


A Brit Picker's Guide to Writing Sherlock (Or Britain in a Nutshell)

by Librarianmum



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: A guide to Britain and the British, Not much more to say than that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-03-05 00:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3098231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Librarianmum/pseuds/Librarianmum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A basic guide to all things British...from the point of view of a Brit who has proofed the work of non-British writers.  Covers the British weather, how British men dress, shop, eat and drink, the education and health care system, the police, religion, media and British terminology, but not comprehensively.  A work in progress so feel free to suggest additions!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The British weather

Well, I've read a few Sherlock fics now, and sometimes it's – well – kind of obvious that the writer doesn't hale from this green and pleasant land. Which is good, because it would be pretty bloody boring (and overcrowded) if we all did, and Sherlock would never get his Sussex cottage and bees to retire to.

But…anyway, sometimes I notice little errors that suggest that London, Britain and the lifestyle of the average consulting detective and army-invalided doctor sharing a flat in Baker Street are not entirely familiar to the writer. I make no criticism – if you want to write an AU in which Sherlock and John are Californian college guys, by all means go ahead (and I'll probably read and enjoy it).

However, if you're the kind of person who likes to make sure their facts are reasonably correct, then I hope this article will help. Personally, if I were writing a fic about CSI: Miami, for example, I'd probably try to find out a bit about life in America to make sure my writing was 'authentic' and made sense in context. But I'm NOT criticising anyone who doesn't do that – honest!

I'm sure other people have covered this topic on here somewhere, so I apologise if I'm just repeating stuff. Also, some of it might not seem all that relevant to Sherlock, but then it depends on what you're writing about. I've tried to take into consideration kid!Sherlock/John or student!Sherlock/John fics as well as those that are more in-canon.

Anyway…read on! And please don't be offended – this is just a light-hearted look at some of the things that stand out as particularly non-British… and to highlight some of our idiosyncrasies.

This originally appeared on another fanfic site and I had loads of advice, questions and suggestions for additions from various readers, so to some degree this is a group effort. Any information I added that was not mine was acknowledged in that version, but for obvious reasons I have now removed the names of those individuals (in case they don’t wish to be named on another site).

I'm going to cover the weather (chapter 1), clothes (chapter 2), food/drink (chapter 3), the British health care system (and how John works) (chapter 4), the police (chapter 5), the education system (chapter 6), religion in Britain (chapter 7), media/communications (chapter 8) and common language/terminology (chapter 9). If anyone wants advice on any other area, please don't hesitate to ask. And also, if you’re British and think something needs correcting, please do say!

And, in true British style, we start with…

**Chapter 1: The British Weather**

First thing to note is that it's variable. _Really_ variable. And it seems to bear no relation to the calendar month, which means it'll be pissing down with rain in June, freezing cold in August and blazing sunshine in October. The most important accessory you can have is an umbrella (that Mycroft is a clever chap). Having said that, London is usually one of the drier parts of the country (which probably won't mean much if you're from Arizona). Look, there's a _reason_ why this country's so green.

Secondly, the variation in temperature is usually not that great. I mean, we might have a slightly thicker coat with a hat and gloves in winter, but thermal underwear and snow shoes are not normal requirements. And the summers are not (usually) all that hot – about 25 degrees C (77 F) is usually as good as it gets. By the way, I live on the south coast, so am used to a slightly warmer scenario; if you were in Scotland or on the north east coast of England, you would probably expect winters to be a bit colder than they are in Bournemouth (where I am these days) or in London.

**Extreme weather that we _don't_ tend to have:**

**Snow storms** that take out the power lines in most of London and leave our heroes in the dark and cold, and forced to share body warmth with hilarious consequences (sorry guys, but we really don't).

 **Romantic snow at Christmas** (apart from in Scotland and north England perhaps). Occasionally, if we're very lucky, we'll get about an inch of snow in January/February, and instantly all hell will break lose – schools will close, trains will stop, news bulletins will focus on happy kids sledging down hills and commuters will moan (but then they do that anyway). And no one knows how to walk on snow, so you'll see a lot of people falling on their arses, lining A &E (accident and emergency departments) with broken limbs and complaining because the council didn't foresee it and send out the gritting lorries the previous night.

 **Heatwaves.** There was a famous one about twelve years ago, where the temperatures got up to around 38 degrees C, and we were entirely unprepared for it, hence a lot of elderly and vulnerable people died. Most Britons don't have air conditioning – it's seen as a waste of money, although some new-build houses might come with it included these days. Most of us just dig out our fans or mobile air conditioners if it comes to it. In their old-fashioned flat, Sherlock and John would just _die_. Or walk around naked and suck ice cubes off each other (but that's just _your_ lurid imagination, so get your mind out of the gutter). But anyway, heatwaves don't happen that often and certainly not every year.

 **Electrical storms** – we have them, but they're not that scary, and (again) they don't usually take out the power lines of greater London.

**Extreme weather that we _do_ have sometimes:**

The only type of extreme weather we get is **severe rainstorms and flash floods** , but that’s usually more of a problem in the West and South West of the country, where it rains more. It doesn't tend to happen in London every year. Ironically, last year, there _were_ some issues with flooding around the London area, e.g. in Surrey, but the city itself was basically unaffected, unlike parts of Somerset in the West country, where villages were quite literally cut off for weeks and had to have everything brought in by boat.

In fact, during the ten years I lived in London, I don't remember _any_ exciting weather-related event that might inconvenience our heroes to a great degree. Sorry to disappoint anyone looking for a dramatic plot device…


	2. How British Men Dress - and How They Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Brit picker's guide continues...on how Sherlock, John and British guys in general dress. Now edited to include sections on women's wear and common over-the-counter medicines, as requested by reviewers.

This is really just about terminology. I think most people get Sherlock right, with his Spencer Hart suits, purple shirt of sex and (possibly) no underwear.

John is more tricky. A common perception is that he dresses badly. Yes, he likes his cuddly jumpers, but that's not unusual for the average British male. In fact, he would actually be considered a 'smart casual' dresser – he wears lots of 'classic separates'. A 'slobby' British male would wear saggy t-shirts and tracksuit bottoms when they're not at work (aka my lovely husband!). John doesn't do that. In his shirts, jumpers and jeans, he's a very typical British professional who is 'off-duty' – not a slob - although Sherlock might not see it that way, from his slightly rarefied, private school background.

When John is at work, he'd probably wear either a fairly casual suit and tie (not tailored), or even just a shirt and trousers with a non-matching jacket. General Practitioners (primary care doctors) like John don't always dress in suits, and sometimes don't wear a tie (my GP doesn't). Sharp suits are usually for city workers and consulting detectives.

Here's a quick US to UK translation guide:

 **Pants = British underpants**. We _are_ used to the fact that US authors mean trousers/jeans when they say 'pants', so it only causes occasional sniggers these days. But worth noting. Otherwise known as boxers or briefs. Trunks usually refers to swimming trunks, not underwear.

 **Dress pants = trousers** , either those worn as part of a suit, aka Sherlock, or more casual non-jeans. Men don't tend to refer to them as slacks, chinos etc. – just trousers. Sherlock's might be described as suit trousers.

 **Sweats = joggers or tracksuit bottoms** , i.e. sportswear. But Sherlock and John are unlikely to wear that kind of thing (in canon, anyway), as neither of them tend to trundle down to the local gym that often (if at all). If you wear joggers in central London and you're not jogging, you might stand out a bit, unless you're a teenager in a hoodie…or a drug user (note Sherlock’s attire at the beginning of His Last Vow).

 **Jeans = well, jeans, actually. Or possibly denims**.

 **Corduroys** \- John is unlikely to wear corduroy trousers. Despite Benedict's best efforts with his maroon cords (eek), they are usually perceived to be something your dad wears to the garden centre at weekends. If you have Benedict's height, body and general coolness, you'd get away with it – just about. And Martin might have the cheek to do it. I can't see John Watson in them – but I'm sure an eagle-eyed viewer will prove me wrong.

 **Wife-beaters = vest**. This one caused me some confusion at first, but a kind American reviewer explained. Well, John would NEVER wear a vest. See above comment re. your dad. It's just too uncool for the average youngish British bloke, unless it's absolutely freezing out there. John is far more likely to wear an ordinary short-sleeved t-shirt under his shirt. Talking of which…

 **Tee = t-shirt.** This is likely to have short sleeves. Sleeveless t-shirts do exist, but John isn't likely to wear them – might be perceived to be a bit 'chavvy' (a bit common) if worn in public. Having spent a fair amount of my 10 years in London crushed on a busy Tube in dangerously close proximity to taller male strangers' smelly underarm hairs, I tend to agree.

Tops might be jumpers, sweaters or, possibly, sweatshirts – although John might be a bit too 'urban' for a sweatshirt.

**Button-downs or Oxfords = shirts (the type with a collar, that you button up).**

**Shoes - usually just known as shoes** , not usually by the name of the make of shoe. Sherlock's type of footwear might occasionally be described as dress shoes. Trainers are sports shoes for jogging/gym etc., but are sometimes worn by British men as casual shoes. John is probably more likely to wear a smarter casual shoe.

 **Boots = could be either walking boots or wellies (wellington boots** ), which someone like Anderson would probably wear at a crime scene or our heroes might wear if they ventured into the muddy countryside. For example, John would probably have worn walking boots to Dartmoor, being a sensible chap. (My heart quailed at the thought of poor Benedict having to scramble up Hound Tor for that classic scene in the Hounds of Baskerville – I've stood in that very same spot on top of the rock and it involves a bit of a leap across a chasm between rocks, which is NOT recommended in prissy dress shoes).

**Where Would They Buy Their Clothes? **

There’s a great resource on the Sherlockology site that gives you details of where Sherlock’s and John’s actual clothes come from.  I'm not going to go into great detail, but here are a few hints on the British high street in general (I’ll touch on food shopping in chapter 3 on food and drink).

A fairly popular store for the basics is Marks & Spencer – in particular, many Brits swear by their underpants. Other popular department stores are John Lewis, Debenhams and BHS (although the latter ones are more popular among men with less money and John is likely to have higher aspirations).

There are any number of specialist men’s clothing stores in London, too many to mention, but I can definitely see John being a Marks & Spencer man for his pants, socks and shirts and possibly John Lewis if he wants to buy something a bit posher.

There are also sports stores, e.g. Adidas, Lacoste etc., when men might buy t-shirts and joggers. And some shops would probably sell clothes with a slightly military bent, which might appeal to John. He’d probably buy his walking boots from an outdoor/travel store such as Millets and might go to Clarks for his ordinary shoes.

Also, it’s worth noting that an increasing number of supermarkets are branching out into cheap clothes, particularly ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, and many busy people might grab something while out food shopping. I have always had this strange vision of Sherlock, after the fall from Bart’s, being forced to change quickly into a cheap t-shirt and jeans that Molly popped into a nearby Tesco to buy because she didn’t have time to get anything better!

Sherlock’s clothes are obviously more designer and will be from small specialist shops. If his underwear is as expensive, it could be from Harrods or Selfridges. But I can’t imagine Sherlock doing anything as mundane as shopping, so he’s probably been supplied by his doting mother!

 

** Women's Clothes / Shopping  
**

I've been asked by a couple of reviewers to add something on this - terms specific to women's clothing, the names of shops they might go to, and what Molly might wear to work.

First of all, here are some US to UK translations:

 **Purse = Handbag**   This is the main difference.  In the UK, a 'purse' is a small, wallet-sized container that holds bank cards and money only.  What in the US is known as a 'purse' is called a 'handbag' here, i.e. a small bag in which you carry your purse, mobile, make-up etc.

 **Blouse = well, blouse, actually.** Or shirt.  And t-shirt is the same as for men.  Ditto trousers and jeans.

 **Panties = knickers or simply underwear.** Specific types might be mentioned, e.g. thongs, shorts.

 **Shoes = just known as shoes.** But low-heeled shoes are often known as court shoes.  Higher-heeled shoes may be described just as 'heels'.  All others are the same as for men - trainers, wellies etc.  By the way, because our weather isn't usually that inclement, women will usually wear shoes to match their outfit, i.e. they won't necessarily travel to work in trainers and then change into something smarter when they get there.  Unfortunately, that does mean that when we DO have bad weather, we're not always very sensibly shod.

As to names of shops: Marks & Spencer (M&S) is popular for the classics, as with men.  Also, John Lewis and Debenhams.  Younger women will go to high street shops like Next, New Look, Monsoon, Miss Selfridge, and River Island.  A popular 'tie-in' store to Monsoon is Accessorize, which specializes in bags, scarfs, dress jewellery etc., but there are any number of 'accessories' shops - Cath Kidson's bags are a popular if more expensive option. Online stores like ASOS are popular, but there are just tonnes of stores out there.  Much as in other countries, there are plenty of independent boutiques, and niche-market stores, e.g. vintage.  Again, like the men, women could pick up cheap basics in the superstores - Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's etc.

Regarding Molly, I'm not really sure.  She's fairly conventional and I would say she looks as if she's bought her clothes from M&S mainly! 


	3. Food and drink - and where they would buy it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now we move onto British food

First of all, as Steven Moffatt has pointed out a couple of times, these are youngish blokes sharing a flat, so baked beans are going to be heavily involved – they probably have an entire cupboard-full. 

Here's a guide, meal by meal.

**Breakfast:**

Cereal = cornflakes, Weetabix, branflakes, sugar puffs (OK, maybe not that last one). This is considered a healthy, quick breakfast, and John might eat something of this nature, probably just with milk and a cup of coffee or tea.

Or

Toast – usually eaten with butter/margarine and jam/marmalade. Again, perceived as quick and reasonably healthy. Kids or hormonal mums like me might resort to Nutella (chocolate spread), but I see John as more of a classic jam addict.

Or

Cooked breakfast. In a hotel or café, this is usually known as a Full English, and could consist of all or any of: bacon, eggs, mushrooms, baked beans, sausages, hash browns, grilled tomatoes, fried bread. In reality, most Brits don't bother with a cooked breakfast every morning. It's usually a weekend or holiday treat. And we don't always go for the full English – usually something like a 'bacon sarnie' (bacon sandwich with tomato ketchup), or eggs and bacon with toast will suffice. Or an omelette, if you're feeling posh.

**We don't eat (for breakfast):**

Ham with eggs – it's usually bacon rather than ham, which in Britain is a thin strip of pork, which comes as either 'back bacon' (less fatty with just a rind of fat) or the slightly cheaper 'streaky bacon' (a thinner strip with streaks of fat running through it). It may be that what I'm describing is exactly what you eat in the States, but we call it bacon instead of ham.

'Biscuits' (in Britain, biscuits are sweet items, the equivalent of American cookies), which you would eat as a sweet snack with a cup of tea.

Pancakes or waffles, with honey or syrup – not unless there are kids in the house – that kind of breakfast is perceived as a bit unhealthy (ironic considering the amount of fat you get in the average British sausage).

Some Brits are 'continental' in their tastes, so might have a croissant or pan au chocolat for breakfast. They wouldn't generally eat doughnuts (or donuts).

And eggs are either fried (not described as over-easy or sunny side up), or poached (perceived as more healthy), or scrambled, or boiled (children eat them with 'soldiers' – cut up strips of buttered bread).

 **Lunch** :

Usually something light – a sandwich or salad and a yoghurt or fruit. Possibly something snacky like crisps or a chocolate bar. In cold weather, possibly soup.

Years ago, it was more usual to eat a cooked, fairly big lunch and then have something lighter later on instead of dinner, but modern Brits are usually too busy, particularly people who are working during the day, like John. I was asked what type of sandwich fillings we like, but it’s hard to pin it down. What we _don't_ eat (and I'm pretty sure everyone knows this already!) are 'peanut-butter-and-jelly' – and, by the way, what Americans call 'jelly' is the equivalent of our jam. Home-made sandwiches often consist of grated/sliced cheese, or a thin luncheon meat such as ham or chicken, or a hard-boiled egg, any of which might be garnished with cucumber, tomato, lettuce etc. But that's a fairly basic sandwich these days, and in reality many London workers will buy lunch at a sandwich bar, food hall or supermarket, where the sky's the limit, and a 'sandwich' might be a baguette, a wrap, a salad, sushi or a takeaway soup.

**Tea/Dinner:**

As mentioned above, Brits used to have a cooked lunch and a substantial pudding, usually with a fairly dodgy name (I have fond memories of Spotted Dick and custard from my school days), and would therefore just have something light, e.g. sandwiches or beans on toast, later on at round 5pm. Some young children still eat this way, especially if they're at a school that still provides a cooked lunch (some now require kids to bring a packed lunch). But adults tend to miss 'tea' and have a cooked dinner later on.

In the case of our two bachelors (BTW, I wrote this pre-Mary), this is unlikely to be that elaborate, hence the baked beans. Baked beans on toast (and they have to be Heinz baked beans, nothing else will do) is a fondly-remembered meal reminiscent of student days for most Brits, and many men don't extend beyond the subtleties of student cuisine until they get married or move in with a chef. I speak from the experience of a husband who still needs reminding how to scramble eggs (our seven year old daughter has a better understanding of these things than he does) – although it has to be said that most British husbands are not quite as bad as him.

In John's case, I suspect that he's quite a reasonable cook – of the basics at least. Most men who've got to his age and are still single probably are. Also, my brother-in-law is ex-navy and a bloody amazing cook – I gather that, in the military, even those who aren't expected to prepare or serve food are still well trained in how to look after themselves. So, possibly quite wrongly, I ascertain from this that John might also be quite good – handy enough to be able to knock together the odd curry or pasta dish, anyway. And, as a doctor, he probably understands the rules of good nutrition. Whether Sherlock eats his meals is another matter.

Cupboard staples (apart from baked beans) are likely to be packets of dry pasta and rice, sliced bread (wholemeal if John is feeling healthy), eggs, cereal, and packets of (sweet) biscuits (see snacks below).

The fridge is likely to contain milk, which usually comes in plastic 1, 2 or 4 litre containers these days, rather than glass bottles. John probably goes for skimmed or semi-skimmed. Other fridge staples might be cheese (usually a hard cheese like Cheddar), ham, bacon and fresh vegetables – e.g. carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions and potatoes.

I don't know whether they have a big freezer – it might just be a small section within their fridge, with enough space for some frozen sausages, fish and mince. And yes, they're likely to get quite a few takeaways too.

Regarding takeaways – the popular ones for British blokes are: Indian, Chinese/Thai or pizza. Traditional fish and chips are a bit out of fashion (it was interesting that Sherlock mentioned chips to Molly in The Empty Hearse). Kebabs/burgers/fried chicken are possible, but are more popular with younger people with slightly less money, e.g. they are more likely to go into a McDonalds, BurgerKing or KFC, whereas someone like Sherlock wouldn't be seen dead anywhere near a burger bar (John might if he's having a grease fixation). Mexican is not quite so big in Britain, as a takeaway at least, although we have plenty of Mexican restaurants. An Italian restaurant, e.g. a place like Angelo's is unlikely to provide a takeaway meal in general, although he probably makes an exception for our boys.

Desserts (puddings) are not that big in the average home, and more likely to be eaten at a restaurant, unless there are children at home. Some adults (and children) might eat yoghurt or some fruit for 'afters', but, in general, dessert is seen as a bit of an extravagance. The exception might be ice-cream if you're female and hormonal, but I don't see John or Sherlock falling into that category (unless you're going down the alpha/omega/mpreg route).

**Drinks**

The rules are usually coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon, but it depends on taste.

There's a general perception that John is a bit of a tea addict, so he may drink tea in the morning too. He's unlikely to make a pot – he'll probably just swill a teabag around in a mug and add some milk. Pots with 'proper' tea leaves, milk jugs and cups and saucers are more usual in a café or restaurant (or in an underground car park with Mycroft), unless you're VERY posh – this would fit in with Sherlock's deliberately posh version of tea when Moriarty comes visiting.

I've been asked to add some further detail here.  First of all, in Britain, 'tea' usually refers to black tea served with milk.  Lemon as an alternative is relatively unpopular and usually needs to be asked for - I mean, if you order tea in a cafe, it'll be assumed without further clarification that you want milk with it.  Sugar will usually be available; honey might only be added if you're feeling ill.  If you want a fruit or herbal tea, you will need to specify.

And it's usually made by boiling water in an electric kettle - I was very surprised to learn that these are not common in the States!

Just a quick note: a cream tea is NOT tea with cream added to it - that would not be a great combination!  It's a traditional light meal served in cafes and consisting of a pot of tea accompanied by a scone, jam and clotted cream - hence the 'cream' element.  Not every cafe will offer it - in London, you may need to book specifically.  If you want to splash out, you can book a 'traditional afternoon tea' at one of the posh London hotels - the Ritz, Claridges - or perhaps the Shard for a stunning view of London!  You will usually get a choice of tea (when i did this at Claridges, there was a ten-page menu!), a platter of sandwiches and cakes and the scone, jam and cream combo.  It's a lovely treat.  Outside of London, the National Trust and English Heritage properties will often offer a cream tea in their tearooms, or there are old-fashioned rural cafes that do.  If you venture down to the West Country, please note that there is great rivalry between the counties of Devon and Cornwall over the correct way to add the jam/cream to the scone!  In Devon, it's cream first followed by jam; in Cornwall, it's jam followed by cream - personally I prefer the latter!

Returning to drinks, coffee is often instant, unless you're very fond of it, in which case you may have a cafetiere.

Popular brands of tea in the UK include Tetleys, Twinings and PG Tips, and with coffee, it’s Nescafe and Kenko, but there are lots of brands available, to say nothing of the supermarket own brands (ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s, Waitrose and Co-Op are the big ones). Fair Trade products are reasonably popular too, and there’s also a market in alternative and organic teas, e.g. Twinings does a number of fruit teas, green teas, scented teas etc. I’m particularly fond of Earl Grey and Lady Grey varieties! However, John may be simply the ‘dunk a bag’ type of tea drinker, so won’t necessarily have lots of varieties in his cupboard.

Regarding alcohol, there'll be bottles of beer or lager in the fridge, I imagine, and possibly bottles of red or white wine in the kitchen to consume with the takeaways. Mycroft will have something much more refined, of course – probably bottles of brandy or port.

I was asked to explain the whole pub/beer/lager thing, which is tricky as I’m not a big drinker myself, but basically at the pub, if you ask for a pint of beer or lager (we still tend to describe measures as pints or half pints, even though we’re supposed to have gone to European litres), it’ll be from the tap and served at room temperature. Most pubs will have a number of brands, so you might say “I’ll have a pint of Fosters”. Some pubs serve real ale in a number of varieties (don’t ask, I have no idea, although I have colleagues who are devoted to trying every variety ever produced).

Or you will get a small or large glass of wine, and you can specify the brand if you know it, otherwise they’ll just serve you a glass of the ‘house’ variety. And then there’ll be bottles of specific brands, e.g. lagers, ciders, alcopops, soft drinks etc., in the fridge behind the bar). Myself, I’ll tend to order a white wine spritzer, which is basically a white wine watered down a bit with lemonade. My friends often order mixed spirits e.g. gin and tonic, Bacardi and soda. Cocktails are popular in some city bars.

**Snacks**

A couple more US/UK translations

 **Chips = crisps** (in Britain, chips are fries, e.g. fish and chips, burger and chips)

 **Cookies = biscuits** (although American-style cookies have crept in). John is likely to have something fairly plain such as a Rich Tea, a digestive, a hob nob or (if he's feeling particularly racy) a chocolate hob nob with his tea. British blokes are not usually particularly imaginative when it comes to biscuits.

 **'American' biscuits = crackers** , which are non-sweet and usually eaten with something like cheese, for lunch.

Cakes – the lovely Mrs H. is probably quite old-fashioned – sadly, home-baked cakes are not so common these days. She might bake scones - see my comments above about cream teas, or something like a Victoria Sponge (a sponge cake layered with jam and/or cream), or mince pies (very popular at Christmas, although more often shop-bought these days). I love that scene where Sherlock goes into her flat and gets a mince pie from the fridge. That's probably quite typical of most British men – they wouldn't necessarily bother to buy cakes, but will eat them if given the opportunity. I can't see John picking up packets of cakes at the supermarket.

Muffins – a slightly complicated picture! English muffins are a kind of plain tea-cake, which would be sliced in half, grilled and eaten with butter and/or jam. They're not so popular these days. American-style muffins are common in Britain now, so a distinction might be made between the English and American versions on café menus. John might be tempted to order something like a chocolate chip American muffin or possibly an American-style cookie with his tea in a café, where those kinds of cakes are fairly popular.

At Christmas, mince pies and Christmas cake are popular, but are likely to be shop-bought, unless provided by Mrs H. When it comes to Christmas puddings, the dedicated are likely to start preparing these, i.e. soaking them in copious amounts of alcohol, the previous summer (or in my gran's case, sometime around March).

Sweets – John almost certainly eats the occasional Kit Kat or Mars / Snickers bar, especially if he's too busy to grab a sandwich during the day. Sherlock probably wouldn't pollute his body with anything of that nature – if he did, it would probably be dark (or plain) chocolate, which is seen as a bit healthier. Cadburys, Galaxy or Mars milk chocolate is perceived as pretty unhealthy and possibly not even chocolate (it's certainly frowned on in many continental European countries as having a too low cocoa content). Mycroft probably indulges in imported Swiss or Belgian chocolates.

**Condiments / Extras**

Someone asked me to clarify condiments. I’m not sure how detailed you need me to be! But anyway, we generally have salt, pepper and vinegar in the house (salt and vinegar are very popular on chips).

We also have mayonnaise, although we don’t tend to put it on everything; it's usually used to produce egg mayonnaise or tuna mayonnaise for sandwiches. We also have salad dressing, which is similar but more vinegary.

We are fond of tomato ketchup on chips, burgers etc., and people can be very fussy about it – my hubby refuses to consider anything other than Heinz. Other sauces are HP sauce and Worcester sauce, which are slightly more spicy varieties, and also barbecue sauce is gaining popularity. We tend to be a bit ‘American’ when we do a barbecue, so will have things like processed cheese slices or squeezy tubes of processed cheese to add to burgers. But the basic hot dog with fried onions and tomato ketchup is still massively popular.

Pickles need clarification. A pickled onion used to be very popular when I was a kid, but less so now (personally, I hate the little buggers, but hubby is a fan). But ‘pickle’ usually refers to a jar of sweet pickled chutney, which is added to salad or a sandwich. A cheese and pickle sandwich will refer to that and not to dill pickles, as in the States. A popular brand is Branston’s.

**Food shopping**

Most people don’t go to the ‘corner shop’ for their main shopping any more. They’ll usually go to a large supermarket and stock up in bulk (having said that, there are smaller versions of the supermarkets in the city and a single person not requiring much might use them).

The supermarket giants are Sainsbury’s, Tesco, ASDA, Somerfield and the Co-Op. A slightly more upmarket supermarket is Waitrose and Marks & Spencer also has a popular food hall, so a more affluent shopper might go there. In London, they might go to the John Lewis food hall, which is also more expensive. And then there are the really expensive places, like Harrods, Selfridges and Fortnum and Masons - the sort of place that Mycroft might have his food delivered from.

The big names are suffering a bit at the moment, due to the recession and the increase in popularity of the ‘pile them high, sell them cheap’ supermarkets from mainland Europe, such as LIDL and ALDI. In particular, Tesco’s profits are suffering. Having said that, most high streets will have a ‘metro’ or ‘express’ version of the supermarkets – Tesco Express in particular is ubiquitous in towns and cities.

When I was a kid, we were more inclined to use local stores, e.g. we’d go to the butchers for our meat, bakers for bread and cakes, fishmongers for fish and greengrocers for vegetables and fruit. To save time, most people get all of it from the supermarket now, but in some parts of London (not so much central areas like Baker Street), the smaller places still exist. When I lived in East London, I would quite often get my veggies and fish from the market stalls. And also there’ll be specialist shops for specific ethnic communities e.g. Halal butchers in East London and Kosher shops in Golders Green, which has a large Jewish community.

Also, there are designer-type markets in various places, e.g. Spitalfields, Greenwich etc., where prices tend to be set high, but you can get organic bread, continental cheese and ham, and the like, and they also sell excellent ethnic dishes. I don’t think John would have much opportunity to do that in Baker Street, but Londoners often like to browse such markets on a weekend. They’re very popular in the countryside too, but they’re not necessarily a budget option! There’s a very amusing comedy song by British comedians Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong on youtube (search for Armstrong and Miller Farmer’s Market) which pretty much sums it up.

In addition to all this, for the seriously disorganised, there are off-licences, the modern equivalent of corner shops. They generally sell alcoholic drinks and cigarettes but will usually sell a few food basics, e.g. bread, milk, tins etc., albeit usually at elevated prices. Newsagents are the same – focusing on newspapers, magazines and confectionery but with some food basics too. They’re also still quite popular in rural villages, where you might otherwise have to get into a car to go to the local supermarket.


	4. The NHS (National Health Service) and How John Works, plus some differences in drugs/disease terminology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now onto a contentious issue - the NHS!

First of all - and very importantly:

** Health care is free at point of care! (yes, really)  **

This is one that often causes considerable confusion. The majority of health care in British is free and provided by the NHS, which is centralised, although power is mostly held by regional health authorities.

I did get criticism from one slightly snotty anonymous reviewer (don’t you just hate people who are too cowardly to leave their names?), who pointed out that the NHS is not free on the grounds that we pay for it out of our taxes. For that reason, I add ‘at point of care’. But I don’t entirely agree with Snotty Anonymous, because it IS free to non-tax payers such as children, older people, chronically ill/disabled people and the unemployed/homeless, and they receive the same level of care as those of us who do pay tax – in fact, more in a way because it’s often the more vulnerable who need more care.

There is also private health care, and richer British people often have private health insurance so they can avoid waiting lists for specialist consultation or surgery. Some private services might be paid for by your employer (or you sign up for a scheme where it’s taken out of your salary), but the point is, you don’t _have_ to have health insurance.

The big question, of course, is how can this be sustainable? And the answer is that - increasingly - it isn’t. There are endless cuts made and there are disputes about treatments not being made available on the NHS because of cost. There are horror stories of people having to sell everything they own so that they can take a severely ill child abroad for cancer treatment, things like that. And there are also horror stories of appallingly bad care, especially for older vulnerable patients. But, by and large, the health service in Britain is fair and of good quality, especially primary health care and the emergency services.

These are the tiers:

**Primary health care / General practice (where John works)**

Primary care (first point of care) is provided by a doctor known as a General Practitioner (GP) working in a building known as a ‘GP surgery’ or ‘surgery (they’re not normally called clinics or offices).

GPs don't specialise – they deal with the entire population and a wide variety of health problems. They will prescribe drugs for minor problems, can monitor and manage more serious chronic conditions, e.g. diabetes (once the patient has had that condition diagnosed by a specialist), and can carry out minor surgical procedures, e.g. mole removal. Anything more serious, e.g. suspected cancer, heart disorders, arthritis etc., will be referred to the local NHS hospital, although GPs may order blood tests before making referrals.

GPs will avoid carrying out anything other than very basic procedures – where possible, they will refer. So John is unlikely to be carrying out emergency or specialist treatment in his surgery unless an emergency actually occurs on-site (and even then, his receptionist will be dialling the 999 emergency number). And, in fact, they are primarily focused on diagnosis and prescribing – they are backed up by practice nurses, who provide immunisations and minor care; health visitors, who screen children up to school age and provide advice to parents; community midwives, who provide out-of-hospital care and ongoing screening to pregnant women; and phlebotomists, who carry out blood tests. There are community nurses who provide care at home, e.g. to elderly or chronically ill people.

All of which is to say that John will _not_ spend his day giving jabs to screaming kids or bandaging leg ulcers – that would all be referred to the practice nurse.

Some screening services are provided by GP surgeries, but these are limited in the UK. There are screening programmes for cervical and breast cancer and a voluntary screening service for bowel cancer provided to older people, but by and large, Britain is seriously lacking in this kind of care – presumably because of the high cost of providing it free. GPs don't provide annual checks, e.g. regular screening for testicular or prostate cancer. They would only do so if a patient came to them complaining of symptoms…at which stage, it could well be too late. But anyway, it's fairly unlikely that John would provide an annual health check for Sherlock.

 **So how would John work?** In the show, we see that he is working either as an employed GP or as a locum (temporary staff) in a GP surgery. GPs don't specialise, and there's no such thing as specialist clinics (except in the private sector). So John, for example, wouldn't work in a specialist paediatric clinic or a cancer clinic – to do that, he'd have to retrain and work in a secondary or tertiary care setting. He would be working a fairly standard office day, probably 8.30 to 5.30, although some GPs do shift work to provide 'out-of-hours' care. As a locum, John might well do that to make some extra money.

To be a GP, you have to take extra exams. Medical students generally start out as junior doctors in hospitals for a couple of years of hard graft, first as a House Officer and then as a Senior House Officer (SHO). They can then either specialise and become a Registrar, Senior Registrar and then Consultant in a specific health area, or they can choose to become a GP and take a series of exams to do so, known as the MRCGP. Going into General Practice is a popular career move for women in particular, because it's easier to organise family life around working hours.

I was confused as to exactly _when_ John would have taken his MRCGP, being as he’s an army doctor, but one reviewer explained that he could have basically been a GP for soldiers in the army, with triage and surgery as a secondary focus, or vice versa, but that he would definitely have both sets of qualifications.

**Ambulatory (emergency) care**

Outside emergencies will be attended by paramedics (they’re not called EMTs) in ambulances.  Some paramedics travel singly in cars or even on bikes to get there quicker than the ambulance. Paramedics can assess and provide basic care and advice; if they _do_ decide you need to go to hospital, you don't get to choose where you go. That's true even for those with private health insurance – e.g. a friend of mine who had appendicitis was admitted to the local NHS hospital for emergency surgery and was only transferred to her private hospital of choice when her NHS consultant was happy to discharge her.

By the way, you _can_ discharge yourself against advice but in certain circumstances, e.g. a parent wanting to discharge a seriously-ill child or a pregnant woman refusing treatment to save her baby, social services and even the law courts may be called in to make a decision on your behalf. John and Sherlock are unlikely to be challenged if they refuse hospital treatment for injuries, although in Sherlock's case, there may be circumstances in which his ability to make an 'informed decision' is called into question – e.g. if he is obviously high on drugs. He could be 'sectioned' in those circumstances (e.g. forced to undergo treatment/taken to a secure psychiatric unit).

A friend asked me once why John was so apparently useless in His Last Vow when Sherlock collapsed at Baker Street. Several reasons really: firstly the paramedics were already there and in many ways, they’re more qualified to deal with an emergency than a GP would be; secondly, even if a GP deals with an emergency in the street, once the paramedics arrive, the care transfers to them as quickly as possible; thirdly, Sherlock is not ‘his’ patient, and he runs the risk of being reported to the General Medical Council (GMC) if there is damage to a patient that he is not responsible for. Not that he would expect Sherlock to sue him or anything, but it’s probably ingrained. Anyway, those are my explanations for the possible reason why – the fourth one being that he’s presumably still reeling from the Mary revelations at the time!

**Secondary (Hospital-based) care / Accident and Emergency (A &E) care **

This is provided in the local general hospital. Most hospitals include most departments, although some might specialise a bit, e.g. paediatrics, orthopaedics, burns, cancer. So, to some extent, that affects where you go if you have an emergency.

All big hospitals have an A&E department (what is usually termed an Emergency Room or ER in the US), and will accept any emergencies, but a child might be referred to the A&E of a hospital that has a paediatric unit, so the child can be seen by a specialist more quickly. And some hospitals have midwife-led maternity units that deal with straightforward childbirth, while others have obstetrician-led units that can deal with complications/provide epidurals and c-sections, and so on. Ambulances may be used to move patients between A&Es. All this care is free.

I’ve been asked by one aggravated reviewer to point out that Bart’s does NOT have an A&E department! It’s a research and specialist hospital only (a tertiary hospital), which explains the big pathology unit that Molly works in. It also explains why so many corpses conveniently turn up there. Anyway, an accident victim in that area would be taken to the A&E at UCH (University College Hospital) nearby. However, in Sherlock’s case, it was obviously important for him to be taken into Bart’s for the deception to work – and John, in his dazed state, would probably assume that he’d been rushed directly to the surgical wards and into a resuscitation unit in a futile attempt to save his life.

**Tertiary care**

This is more specialist, e.g. a cancer hospital or a children's hospital. They won’t usually have an A&E department and they won’t see just anyone, you have to be referred. I’ve seen fics where John is a paediatric cancer specialist or something like that – if that’s what you’re writing about, he’ll be working in a hospital like this and not in a private clinic.

And this care is all free too – I really have to grit my teeth in annoyance when I read misinformed fics about people dying because they couldn’t afford their cancer drugs or something like that! Yes, it’s true that some people with very specialist conditions might seek private treatment abroad, but those are the rare cases. And it’s worth noting that the NHS will often pay for, or at least heavily subsidise, this treatment if it’s for a British citizen. There’s an organisation called NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) which has the not-so-nice job of sifting through the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of new drugs to decide whether or not the NHS can justify covering the costs of their use.

One reviewer pointed out that you sometimes have to wait a while for specialist treatment. If you have a very specific illness or injury, you may well be referred to a number of specialists, and each time you are referred to a new one, you're on a waiting list for an appointment. It's not unusual to wait two/three months to see someone. The perils of a free health care system, unfortunately… In my own experience, certain populations get far better treatment than others. My daughter (and most children I know) has received exemplary care from the NHS, with no delay at all, but heaven help you if you're a low-income elderly person with no family to provide informal care.

Another bone of contention in Britain is the increasing centralisation of specialisms – we're used to having our health services locally and are not keen on having to travel too far out of our towns to go to a specialist hospital. In particular, children’s heart surgery is in the process of being ‘centralised’ into fewer hospitals, which must be horrible for parents who have to travel many miles from home.

**Private hospitals/private doctors**

Private hospitals basically provide private secondary and tertiary care, which is not necessarily of higher quality than state care, but you can often be seen more quickly. It's a way of jumping the dreaded waiting lists. Mycroft (and possibly Sherlock) might receive elective (planned) surgery in a private hospital, but if they had an emergency, they'd be more likely to be carted off to the nearest NHS hospital. Paramedics don't tend to check your health insurance first!

Private doctors work rather like GPs, but are likely to be able to provide more individualised care. They may also specialise, e.g. a women could pay to see a private obstetrician. Mycroft will certainly have a private physician and would probably be able to see his doctor whenever he wants to, rather than having to make an appointment and wait for a few days, as with GPs.

So…to summarise:

 **What we DON'T pay for at point of care (unless we want to)** \- consultations, treatment at a GP surgery or in a hospital, maternity services including ultrasound, blood tests, x-rays and other diagnostic tests, and some referred treatments, such as physiotherapy or osteopathy. Also drugs for chronic conditions are free, e.g. a diabetic would receive all his/her insulin and testing strips free of charge. In addition to this, prescribed contraceptives are free. Also, abortion procedures are free (you are usually referred to an abortion clinic by your GP, and two doctors have to agree that it would be detrimental to your health to go through pregnancy and birth – that’s a very basic summary of a complex issue, but it gives you the gist).

 **What we DO pay for -** Adults have to pay for dental treatment, non-referred treatments like physiotherapy, and prescribed drugs for non-chronic conditions (although drug therapy as a hospital inpatient is free and if you go to A &E for a minor condition instead of to your GP, you're likely to get your drugs free at discharge). For pregnant women, children (up to the age of eighteen), older people (over the age of 65) and those with disabilities or chronic conditions, most normally paid-for services are free. For example, dental treatment and prescriptions during pregnancy (you are allocated an NHS exemption card that you can show during the period of your pregnancy and maternity leave).

 **Pregnancy/birth** – women are allocated a community midwife by the local maternity unit, who will lead their care throughout.  For Americans, it's worth noting that midwives are not really the same as your obstetric nurses - they are a separate profession from nursing and they take a 3 year degree which qualifies them for midwifery only, rather than starting out as a nurse and then training for obstetrics.  They have a considerable degree of autonomy.  Community/hospital midwives will care for you during labour and you're only likely to see an obstetrician if there is a complication that the midwife decides to refer or if you end up having an assisted delivery/caesarean section. Radiographers carry out scans in maternity clinics - obstetricians are not involved in this screening unless there's a complication. Women generally only have their 'own' obstetrician if they go private. I didn't see a doctor once during my pregnancy and labour. This is really only of interest if you're writing about John/Mary or another female character, I guess!

**Over-the-Counter Drugs / Medicines  
**

A reviewer asked for a section on this, which was a great idea, as there are some differences. 

Like pretty much any other country, our drugs are either on prescription or bought OTC (over-the-counter).  And we have to pay for prescription drugs unless we fall into certain categories (children, older people, pregnant women, those with certain chronic conditions such as diabetes - though even then, diabetics only get the vital drugs free of charge and would probably have to pay for anything not related to their condition).  There's a standard cost for a drug obtained on prescription - currently £8.40, so sometimes, if the doctor knows that the drug is cheaper OTC, they may just write the name down and tell you to buy it, rather than issue an official prescription.

To get prescription drugs, you go to a pharmacy - either a local small community pharmacy or to a larger chemist (our name for drug store) such as Boots Pharmacy.  As well as a pharmacy desk, they provide OTC medicines, toiletries, sanitary products, cosmetics, perfumes and baby products.  A qualified pharmacist is required to dispense prescription drugs, and will also be available to provide basic health advice.  A pharmacist can also provide immunisations such as annual influenza vaccinations - but they have to be paid for, so certain categories of people, such as children, pregnant women and older people, are more likely to get these done free of charge at their GP surgery.

Regarding OTC drugs - here are the major differences.

 **Analgesics** \- popular generic versions are:

 **Paracetamol (Tylenol in the USA)** \- used to treat headaches and non-nerve pain.  Trade names in the UK include Panadol and Calpol (a children's medicine version), but paracetamol is readily available in most shops under its generic name and is usually much cheaper.

 **Ibuprofen (Brufen, Motrin or Advil in the USA)** \- a non-steroidal anti-flammatory drug (NSAID), most commonly used for injuries such as sprains.  The most popular brand versions in the UK are Nurofen, Nurofen Plus (which includes codeine), Ibugel (a gel for sprains), and Calprofen (children's medicine version.)  Again, the generic version is readily available and cheaper.

They are the two most popular OTC painkillers in the UK.  Others are:

 **Aspirin** \- another NSAID, but not usually quite so effective as Ibuprofen for pain, so is more usually prescribed for conditions, e.g. heart problems.

 **Codeine** \- Unlike some other countries, this can be sold OTC.  It's often combined with Paracetamol to create Co-Codamol.  Can be addictive, so it's more usually prescribed, and pharmacists can be wary about selling it OTC.  I remember being questioned closely about my reasons when buying Nurofen Plus once!

A few other differences in USA/UK terminology:

 **Band aids = plasters / sticking plasters.**   This actually derives from the trade name Elastoplast, but we generally call them plasters now.

 **Shots = jabs** As in, getting a flu jab.  By the way, it's not all that common for healthy adults to get a flu jab every year, mainly because they're not considered necessary for the entire population, and so we would have to pay for them.  Only pregnant women, older people and those with chronic disorders such as diabetes or asthma can expect to get one from their practice nurse.  I only get one because I work for an American company that issues vouchers for free jabs!

 **Meds = we would say drugs or medicine.**  

 **OB/GYN** \- this is another term that I've seen occasionally.  As mentioned above in the section on pregnancy and birth, women don't necessarily see an obstetrician unless there's a problem - usually, their care is midwife-led.  But if they do, it's a different specialty to that of the gynaecologist - the roles aren't generally combined.  And you won't see either professional in primary care (unless you go to a private physician).  You will be referred to a hospital gynaecologist by your GP for major medical problems, e.g. gynaecological abnormalities requiring surgery.  Minor gynaecological issues relating to contraception or menstruation are managed by the GP (there's usually at least one GP or nurse in every general practice who is qualified to fit contraceptive implants/coils).

 **Pap test = smear test.** Carried out every three years, usually by a practice nurse, and the sample will be sent to the local hospital's pathology department.  You only go to a gynaecologist if you get an abnormal result requiring further investigation - in that case, you will receive a letter from the hospital.

**Illnesses**

This might sound a bit mad because obviously diseases are the same!  But there are a few terminology differences - just little things I've noticed, in no particular order:

 **Sick = Ill - and Ill = Sick!** Like I say, a bit odd!  But the terms appear to be reversed between the USA and the UK.  If a Brit says they're 'sick' or they 'feel sick', that means a gastric bug, i.e. they're actually vomiting or are about to.  Any other disorder - colds, flu etc. - they would describe as feeling 'ill'.  Just so you know when to jump out of the way to avoid your shoes getting spattered!

 **Strep throat = a throat infection or simply a sore throat.** Nowadays, GPs are very reluctant to prescribe antibiotics for this - usually, people are advised to let it run its course.  It's not common for GPs to screen for infections during a consultation - they'll usually go by a visual examination and a medical history when making a decision to prescribe or not.

**Mono / Mononucleosis = Glandular fever**

**Amyotrophic Lateral Sclorosis / Lou Gehrig's disease = Motor Neurone Disease** (though if you're writing a fic that requires use of this, that'll be a major tear-jerker)

 

 


	5. The police

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The police - but this is a short chapter

I have to confess that this is an area that I don't know a massive amount about, so this is just a few pointers.

Each county in Britain has their own police force and then some of the cities/large towns have a separate one - it depends on the population size. In the case of London, the force is known as the Metropolitan Police and it is based at New Scotland Yard (which is normally known as the Yard rather than as NSY). The police force is usually abbreviated to The Met.

I'm told by an insider(!) that the Met consider themselves the 'bee's knees' among the police forces and tend to take the piss out of the more rural forces. And there is something in that - if there's a particularly serious case somewhere else in Britain, e.g. a man hunt, an abducted child or an act of terrorism, the affected police force might request specialist help/manpower from the Met.

A detective inspector like Greg Lestrade will lead a team. He will have some Detective Sergeants, e.g. Sally Donovan, who will have some autonomy in carrying out investigations but would have to report closely with him, and Detective Constables, who are fairly junior and will do the dog work. A DI will be based in a unit - in Lestrade's case, it is almost certainly a murder investigation team working within the Homicide and Serious Crime Command. Others will work in different areas and a case might be referred to the appropriate unit.

This 'plain clothes' unit is quite distinct from the uniformed divisions who patrol the streets and deal with day-to-day crime in London, although they will work together, e.g. at a crime scene, a uniformed constable will be keeping curious onlookers away while the specialist unit investigates. The difference between the uniformed and plain clothes branches is defined by the name - an Inspector becomes a Detective Inspector (like Greg), a Sergeant becomes a Detective Sergeant (like Sally), and so on.

Regarding guns - their private use is illegal in the UK apart from in controlled situations such as gun clubs. John could face a prison sentence just for possession of a gun, let alone using it - which is probably why Sherlock suddenly shut up when he realised that it was John who shot the cabbie.  Occasionally, the police have an 'arms amnesty' to encourage people to hand over illegal firearms - this is because in the big cities there are problems with gang warfare and drive-by shootings (usually of rival gang members).

Equally, the police do not habitually carry guns, unless they are going into a known dangerous situation. Lestrade, Dimmock and Donovan etc. will not carry a gun in most circumstances.

Anderson is a bit of an anomaly. He appears to work for the Met's forensic apartment. He will be present at scenes, of course, but apart from advising the DI and carrying out the usual forensic work, he is unlikely to be involved in any actual solving of the crime. He might not necessarily be working alongside Lestrade or Donovan in the investigation process - he's purely there as an expert adviser. And he wouldn't be part of Lestrade's 'team' - he will be just one of a group of forensic scientists who just happened to be on duty when a call came in about a crime scene. It is implied in the show that he's also an irritating git who likes to give his own opinion, much to Sherlock's disgust! To be working in forensics, he will have been highly trained and is unlikely to be that much of an idiot, except when he tries to solve the case.

Edited to add that Anderson is probably a SOCO (Scene of Crime Officer).  Also that Lestrade and co. won't ever carry guns unless they have specialist training - they'll send in a specialist unit if required.  Thanks Sigridir for those corrections.

Also, if you ever come across a UK police drama called Line of Duty - WATCH IT!  it's an amazing drama about police corruption.  We're onto the 4th series here and it really is brilliant.  That and Broadchurch keep me going these days...


	6. The British education system and student life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure about this, but there is a certain amount of interest, and it may be useful for kidfics.

In the UK, education is free, or parents can pay to send their children to private schools.  It is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16.

 **State education** \- Every child is entitled to a free education and will be placed by the local authorities in a school in their 'catchment' area. Hence parents have been known to deliberately move into areas where there is a school perceived to be good. You don't always get your first choice, especially if the school is very popular. So some parents will resort to:

 **Private education** – there are levels. Some private schools are probably within the reach of families where both parents work in reasonably well-paid occupations. Then there are the 'public schools' - extremely expensive private schools, which usually include boarding facilities for children from about the age of 7. Examples include Eton and Harrow (Benedict's school). If you are very lucky, you might get a scholarship to a private school (my husband did) or you might get assistance with some of the fees, but that is more difficult to come by these days.

Most private/public schools are single-gender; however, at my husband’s school, they allowed older girls to join in year 12/13 (the 16 to 18 age group), and I imagine that happens more often these days.

John probably went to a state school, while Mycroft and Sherlock may have gone to a private school (it’s hard to tell from series 3, but they do seem to be an affluent bunch, even if not quite as posh as we all assumed!).

One thing though: you HAVE to prove that your child is being educated. If you opt out of the state school system to send your child to a private school, you will have to provide proof of that. A parent who habitually refuses to provide education for their child could receive a prison sentence. Some who are disenchanted with the official system will home educate, but in that case will have to provide proof that a curriculum is being followed.

There are 4 stages in the education journey (I don’t mention pre-school, which is usually for ages 3-4, as it’s not mandatory):

**Primary school education**

You start in the year in which you turn 5 (although it's not compulsory to actually start until you have turned 5). Primary schools are usually mixed-gender and they take children from age 5 to age 11, at which point they move to:

**Secondary school education**

Age 11 to either age 16 or age 18. This age group tend to be known as school children or students – not freshmen, juniors or seniors. Such descriptions don't exist. Also, you don't graduate from school, and they don't have graduation ceremonies. They have started to have American-style 'proms' these days, but not on the same scale – it's basically a party that is slightly posher than usual. The usual prom traditions, e.g. Prom Queen etc., don't usually take place.

Secondary schools can be 'comprehensive' schools (standard, state-run, will take any child), church schools (or other religious schools, who might select by religion, although the church ones often don't these days), or grammar schools (selective schools which take only those who pass specific exams). If we assume that John is a fairly bright individual, he may have got into a grammar school (although in some parts of Britain, grammar schools are now private).

State schools can be single-gender or mixed-gender. The grammar schools in particular are often still single-gender, but in general there is a move towards mixed-gender education.

Middle schools still exist in some areas – they take kids between 9 and 13, at which point, the child moves onto secondary school.

Secondary school students work towards two national examinations. The first is known as GCSEs, which they complete at the age of 16 (many schools these days will push students to take some GCSEs in previous years if they’re at the right standard, just so they can focus on the ‘important’ ones in their final year). There are some subjects that are compulsory up to age 16: English language and literature, mathematics, general science, and religious education. A second language used to be compulsory too, but was dropped a while back. The optional subjects that can be studied to GCSE level include a language (most usually French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian, possibly Mandarin Chinese), history, geography, physics, chemistry, biology, art, computer science, drama, music, and food technology. GCSEs are graded by external examiners with the following grades: A*, A, B, C, D, E, F, G (all pass scores) and U (ungraded, fail score), but the goal is to achieve at least a C. Schools’ performances can be based on the number of A-C passes achieved, which means teachers are under tremendous pressure to ensure their students get at least a C.

Having completed their GCSEs, students will then either leave school or stay on for two more years to take 'A'-levels at the age of 18. Many schools offer ‘A’-levels. If John went to grammar school, he will certainly have stayed on at school for his ‘A’-levels. He might have to get top grades (A*s) in at least 2 sciences (probably Biology and Chemistry) to go on to study medicine.

**Further education**

This is the 16-18 age range and they are usually known as students or college students. As mentioned above, some schools provide education up to 18, but students _can_ go to a further education college instead if they prefer. They will either take 'A'-levels or a more vocational education course, e.g. child care. Alternatively, they may become apprentices for 'blue collar' occupations, such as plumbers, electricians etc. By the way, 'blue collar' occupations are not looked down upon any more – those occupations tend to earn a fair amount of money these days, so 'working class'/'middle class' distinctions don't really apply. So an apprenticeship or a vocational course may be popular.

**Higher/University education**

From age 18 onwards, for Batchelor degrees (first level, usually 3-4 years), Master degrees (second level, usually 1-2 years) and PhDs (research degrees). Again, the students are known purely as students or university students (not college students at this stage). It's after completing a first level degree, which is usually 3 or 4 years (or 5 for medicine), that you graduate, and not before.

Some universities cover a wide variety of topics, including medicine and the sciences. For example, my cousin studied medicine at Edinburgh University. However, John might also apply to study at a specific School of Medicine – Bart's would be one, and it's implied in the show that he used to be there, either as a student or a lecturer.

 **Why army?** – A medical degree in the UK costs a great deal of money. Students can take out interest-free loans and spend years paying them off, but another alternative is to join the army (or navy or air force). The army will pay for your degree and you 'pay' it back by serving for a number of years. This could be the reason why John went into the army. But a British medical degree is usually 4/5 years and you have to serve about 7 years in the army after that (I'm going by the experiences of a woman I know who did precisely that), so assuming that John graduated at the age of 23, he would have been eligible to leave the army at the age of 30…and he didn't do that. We can therefore assume that he was something of a career soldier before being shot.

I should note that one reviewer pointed out that when John was at University, his degree would have been free. I agree, but it does depend on exactly when he trained. If we assume he's supposed to be around the same age as Martin Freeman (did they ever say how old John is?), he'd be 43 now. I'm 44, and when I was at University (from 1988-1991), I was one of the last UK students to be lucky enough to get a free government grant to pay for my education (however, it was means-tested, so my parents had to pay around a quarter of the fee). Shortly afterwards, the government began to introduce interest-free loans that had to be paid back once you were employed. If John is around the same age as me, he'd have had it paid for him; if he's supposed to be a few years younger than that, he'd have had to pay the money back.

**Student life  **

University students wouldn't live in dormitories (dorms). Occasionally, two students might share a room (I did in my first year), but that is increasingly unusual. Most have their own room, probably fairly tiny with a bed, a few bits of furniture, a desk and a sink, with a shared bathroom along the corridor. Students often only live in established student accommodation in their first year; after that, they may find 'digs' outside the University grounds, with other students to share the rent. They may not have any choice – the University might only have enough accommodation for first and final year students. The student accommodation blocks are often known as Halls of Residence, so a student might say something like “I’m just off back to my hall” or “I’m off back to my room”. (I only mention this because someone asked me what they would say if not ‘dorm’).

At some of the older colleges at Oxford or Cambridge University, even first year students might be lucky enough to be allocated a suite of rooms with their own bathroom. Influence might help here – it's possible that Mycroft or Sherlock might be favoured due to family connections.  At the other end of the scale, my niece, who started University last September went straight into private accommodation - a privately-owned house that has been converted into several student rooms - because her University didn't have enough accommodation spaces for even first years.

There aren't private members' clubs at most universities (apart from fairly exclusive ones at Oxford/Cambridge), so Sherlock/John wouldn't be invited to wild fraternity parties or the like. There are clubs based on interests, e.g. walking clubs, drama clubs etc. and students will come to them from across the University (i.e. there is no great sense of 'loyalty' to the college or accommodation block that you happen to be based in). Having said that, there may be some local loyalty in Oxford/Cambridge, where there will be inter-college competitions e.g. boat races.

Most universities have cheap bars, usually run by the Student's Union, or there'll be local pubs informally known as students' locals. By and large, students have a fairly free life as long as they don't actually break the law, i.e. university authorities won't necessarily control how often they attend lectures etc. Basically, you can do as much/little study as you like, and if you fail your end-of-year exams, it's perceived to be your fault. This is particularly true of Oxford/Cambridge, where you are expected to get on with it without a massive amount of support beyond weekly compulsory tutorials.


	7. Religion in Britain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was asked by one reviewer to add something on religious life in Britain and how prominent it is.

I must admit I was a bit unsure because religion is an emotive topic and I can only give my impressions. Also, if I say that any of the characters are or are not religious, it's only my perception and is no more accurate than anyone else's view. There's probably a very good reason why they don't address it at all in the series! All I can do is give you an idea of the status of religion in Britain.

So…here we go!

Britain has a strong Christian history and many British people still write 'Christian' or 'C of E' (Church of England) on the survey forms, but the reality is that the country has become increasingly secular – much more so than the USA, for example. Identifying as 'Christian' probably goes back to the days when survey forms just assumed you belonged to a religious affiliation. A growing number of people are starting to identify as atheist/agnostic/Jedi/whatever, while many others who identify as 'Christian' are really more of the 'Carried, Married and Buried' type (in other words they only appear at a church for their christening, their wedding and their funeral). An alternative saying, which a reviewer gave me was 'Hatches, Matches and Dispatches'! Some identify as 'humanist'.

The Church of England (the Anglican church, also often known colloquially as the C of E) is the established church in England, and the Queen is the head of it. There's also an established Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which she isn't the head of but is required to swear to preserve. All of which means that the Royal Family is at least expected to _appear_ to be religious (even if individual members of it are probably not). There would have been no question of Prince William not marrying Catherine Middleton in a church, for example.

The Church of England is heavily involved in various State occasions. Also, those living in a church parish have the right to be married in that church, whether they are church-goers or not (they have to attend for a number of weeks to hear the reading of the marriage banns). That's why certain sections of the C of E have been up in arms about recent legislation concerning gay marriage – there was a perception that they might be required to marry gay couples against their personal beliefs (it is worth noting, by the way, that many individual Anglican priests have no problem marrying gay couples; it was more that they wanted to establish the legal position).

In addition to the established churches in England and Scotland (there are no 'established' churches in Wales or Northern Ireland), there are various non-denominational religions – Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, United Reformed Church, Salvation Army etc. In the past, some of these churches were seen as less stuffy than the established church and more open to young people and alternative worship styles, but in recent years, there has been a resurgence in evangelism in certain Anglican churches who have youth-oriented services and the aisles are packed. These evangelical churches are getting a bit more open in their views, partly as a backlash against the recent secularisation of Britain. Also, the C of E is under some pressure from Anglican churches in other parts of the world, notably Africa, where the church leaders are more conservative and are threatening to split from the established church over issues such as women bishops and acceptance of homosexuality among church leaders.

The next biggest religion in the UK is Islam, followed by Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism. This is partly to do with immigration – parts of Britain, particularly London and big cities in the Midlands are now fairly multi-cultural. There's a right-wing newspaper in Britain called the Daily Mail, which I privately dub "The Daily Hate" because hardly a day goes by without some story about how Islamists are taking over the country. In reality, the numbers are still quite low. Anyway, this attitude has unfortunately caused some racial/religious hatred in certain parts of the country – the kind of "send them back where they came from" stuff. It's hard for me to judge how serious that division is, because I'm not exposed to it, living in a quiet south-coast town, but even when I lived in east London a few years' back, I wasn't aware of any trouble between communities.

For the most part, Britons don't tend to get too passionate about religious or cultural matters. That's the major point – Brits are _not_ encouraged to be openly religious in public. Our political leaders don't tend to discuss their religious beliefs. In fact, an old prime minister, Tony Blair, who is religious, was deeply offended by an interviewer who asked him if he prayed with George W. Bush during a visit to the USA (after leaving politics, he converted to Catholicism, which suggests he is fairly devout, but it was never very obvious while he was in charge). Public figures do not often mention God or prayer in their speeches (apart from church leaders, of course).

**So what does all this mean for John and Sherlock?**

Well, it's not very clear from the TV series whether they are religious or not, but I suspect they are not.

Sherlock is easier – I would imagine he would scorn religious belief as a superstition, as many popular scientists do, e.g. Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Stephen Hawking etc. At public school and at University, he might have been exposed to some Christian rituals, e.g. he might have been 'invited' to say the grace in Latin at university dinners (although I think that 'honour' might have been enforced on the theology and arts students more often – I know my husband felt he had to do more than his fair share of Latin graces while studying theology at Oxford!). Sherlock would probably have refused to do it if asked – or might have recited the elements table or something far ruder in Latin instead!

John – it probably depends on his background. We don't know much about it beyond his alcoholic sister, so we don't know whether his parents were church-goers. His name appears to be Scottish in origin (or his middle name is), so he might have come from a Presbyterian background. That might fit in with the fact that he did well at school, as Presbyterians tend to place a lot of importance on education and learning. But that's pure speculation – it's just as possible that he came from a family of atheists. He often discusses Sherlock's morality, or lack of it, but that's just basic decency and he doesn't seem to have any sense of the spiritual (I know that he apparently said "God let me live" when he was shot, which may indicate some family religion that came back to him at the point of death).

He will certainly have become used to Christian traditions during his military service. He will have had to participate in prayers and familiar hymns at official services, remembrance parades and the like. I can only go by my brother-in-law, an ex-Navy officer and very much not a ‘God botherer' as he describes himself. He doesn't believe a word of it, but can be relied upon to go through the rituals with a degree of respect as and when required, probably more out of loyalty to Queen and country than anything else. I imagine John might be quite similar – not a believer but respectful of those who do believe. This is distinct from my husband's sister, who is virulently anti-religion and describes Christians as delusional (as my husband is a Christian, you can imagine the Christmas dinners…!). My brother-in-law wouldn't go that far. He probably teases my sister a bit, as she goes to church, but he's very typical of most Brits – "don't bother me with your beliefs, and I won't bother you with mine".

We Brits are strangely embarrassed by open or emotional displays of religion. It's not a subject we're ever very keen to discuss, and I can't imagine John or Sherlock talking about their religious beliefs or lack thereof. Having said all of the above, I guess it's fairly open – the writers of the modern incarnation don't really mention it, so there's no reason why either character can't be interpreted as religious if that's what you want to do! All I'm saying is don't expect their religious belief to be of much interest to the average Brit.

Hope this helps! Please do bear in mind that I am White, live in a fairly White area and come from a traditional Christian Methodist family, so someone from a different religious/cultural background may assess the religious situation in Britain very differently.


	8. Media in Britain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter on British media.

This is another short one and really only to name some of the broadcast/Internet media organisations that they will be familiar with (in case anyone needs the information for added colour).

**Newspapers**

There are a broad range of daily newspapers available from the ‘broadsheets’ (perceived as serious quality papers) to the ‘tabloids’ (populist papers, focusing on celebrity and sport).

The most popular tabloids are The Sun (politically right wing, supporting Conservative Party), The Daily Mirror (politically left wing, supporting socialist organisations) and The Daily Star. There are ‘mid-range’ newspapers mainly aimed at women, including the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, both of which are right wing. Of the broadsheets, the best known are The Telegraph (right wing), The Times (was centrist, now moving to the right), The Guardian (left wing) and The Independent (centre-left - now only available online).

Their political support can have a fundamental impact on the outcomes of general elections. For example it is believed that the reason why Tony Blair, the Labour leader, won so easily in 1997 was because The Sun changed its allegiance to support him rather than the Conservative leader.

The Sun is the most popular newspaper by some way and is part of Rupert Murdoch’s politically powerful media empire. It’s generally a “tits and football” paper with basically no serious editorial content, so it was ironic that when Mycroft was reading of Sherlock’s ‘death’ at the end of The Reichenbach Fall, he appeared to be reading The Sun. You may notice that John was reading The Daily Star at the beginning of The Reichenbach Fall, another trashy tabloid. And then, in His Last Vow, we catch glimpses of The Daily Express and The Daily Mirror with the ‘Shag-A-Lot Holmes’ stories that Janine sold. It’s a little ironic that Janine said she sold her story to “one of” Magnussen’s rivals, since those two papers are owned by different organisations.

In addition to the nationals, there are local and regional newspapers.

**Internet/Media**

The best known broadcaster in Britain is the publicly-funded BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), which is the oldest and also the largest broadcasting corporation in the world. It originated as a radio broadcasting company in the 1920s under the leadership of John Reith with the stated values to “inform, educate and entertain” – a popular joke whenever a particularly puerile programme is broadcast is that Reith must be turning in his grave.

The BBC is funded by a compulsory TV licence, which annoys many Brits; on the other hand, the BBC is generally popular in the UK and there is pride in the fact that it’s (in theory) non-commercial. The BBC is required to be objective, although inevitably it will be accused at one time or another of being left- or right-wing.

I’m not going to go into massive detail, but the main BBC channels are BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 (youth oriented and now online only due to budget cuts) and BBC4 (arts and culture oriented). There’s also a BBC News channel (rather like CNN). Alternative channels are the publicly funded Channel 4 and the commercial channels ITV and Channel 5.

The main radio stations are BBC Radio 1 (youth), Radio 2 (middle-of-the-road), Radio 3 (classical) and Radio 4 (a non-music channel, focusing on politics, culture, society and drama). There are other BBC radio stations, and also local radio stations, in addition to a large number of commercial radio stations.

Since the move to digital broadcasting, the main (terrestrial) TV channels can be accessed using a Freeview TV, but many Brits subscribe to either a digital provider (e.g. Virgin Media) or a satellite provider (e.g. BSkyB) so they can get access to a larger number of TV channels. This will often be as part of a package including telephone services and Internet broadband, and clearly Sherlock and John have some type of package set up so they can access the Internet at home.

 

 


	9. British Terminology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And finally...how Brits talk!

I'm a little hesitant here, because I can guarantee that if I say that British people don't use such-and-such terms, I'm bound to get a replay from someone saying "well, _I_ do". So you may need to take this with a pinch of salt.

There are regional accents – I've generally assumed that our characters talk with either London accents or with a received pronunciation (a sort-of neutral accent). Also, a lot of Americanisms have crept into our language, so please bear in mind that I'm in my forties and not entirely conversant with what British teenagers say these days!

This is just a basic summary of words/phrases that I've frequently read in fics that don't entirely fit with the British language. I'm not going to say they're 'wrong' because presumably to you, they're not. I'm just saying that they are not words/phrases that our characters would use (assuming that you are portraying them as British) and therefore tend to stick out a bit.

**What we don’t say:**

**Anyways** – we say anyway.

 **Gotten** – the word is got

 **Cor** – I think this must go back to Dick Van Dyke's lamentable attempt at a cockney accent in Mary Poppins! I am still cringing. Anyway, Brits might have once said 'Cor Blimey, guv' or something like that in the 1930s, but they certainly don't now.

 **Luv** – this is another one that I don't altogether understand. I don't know anyone who says 'luv' and certainly not a younger person. A much older person might say it, but it's normally written as 'love', not 'luv'. As in “you OK, love”?

We don't tend to say 'heck', 'man' (as in "Oh maaaaan!"), 'gosh' or 'golly'.

 **Fixing to / Fixing on** \- this sounds very Southern USA to me!  No offence intended - it's just that I always imagine it being said in that accent... Anyway, we would say 'planning to', as in 'she was planning to visit him'.

 **Figuring / Figured -** e.g. 'he figured that he should go'.  It's a bit difficult to find an exact alternative - it's just that we don't really use that term in that context, just as we don't tend to say 'go figure!'.  I suppose it might be 'he judged...' or 'he decided that he should go'.  A related term is 'guessed', as in "I guess" - although actually that phrase is used more often in Britain these days.

**What we do say:**

Brits are usually reasonably polite and even occasionally friendly (yes, really!), although please note that Londoners tend to be less polite than people in other parts of the country. We don’t tend to break into enthusiastic conversation with strangers on the Tube, although there _are_ occasions. I remember being stuck on a Tube once in the 1980s when the lights went out (this was during the IRA terrorist attacks and we often had security scares on transport), and everyone started chatting and exchanging names etc. I also remember being on jury service and by the end of the week, we were all going out to dinner together and felt as if we’d known each other for years. So we ARE friendly really, you just have to find a way of getting under the national reserve.

We also have a fairly robust sense of humour and can come across as a bit rude. We don’t have much respect for figures in authority, so it’s quite normal for politicians and the Royal Family to be the butt of jokes, even the Queen (often called ‘Liz’ by the media). Older people are usually more respectful.

 **Greetings:** there are all sorts of greetings and it may depend on where in the country you come from. Often simply Hi, Hello or Good Morning. Even in business situations, I’d address my boss with “Hi” and his first name. My doctor tends to say “Hello” when he greets a new patient. Greetings will depend where you are – in somewhere crowded like London, you’re unlikely to greet the people you pass, but in more rural areas, you probably will. For example, I walk my dog every morning and it’s considered polite to smile and say “Good morning” or “Hello” to each person you pass, whether you know them or not.

 **Sorry!** Yes, we’re experts at that one. There’s a joke about a small, wimpy-looking man looking up at some huge muscled guy and saying “I’m sorry but you’re standing on my foot”. And that’s not so far from the truth. I don’t really know why, but it seems automatic to say “sorry” even when it’s not your fault. For example, if two people bump into each other, they both might say “sorry” immediately. I don’t think we’re particularly meek, I think it’s just considered polite. But we also say “I’m sorry?” as in “I don’t understand you”, or “Sorry?” as in “Can you repeat that?”.

 **Swear words** – apologies if I offend anyone with the following words, but they have to said if I’m going to represent this accurately.

First of all, we don't so often say 'curse' or 'cursing' in relation to the use of rude words (and definitely not 'cussing'), we are more likely to say 'swear' or 'swearing'. One reviewer mentioned that ‘curse’ or ‘cursed’ does appear in British stories, and yes it does in that we might say “he cursed”, meaning he said something angry that is likely to be a swear word. But we don’t say “don’t curse”. Instead, we would say “don’t swear”.

 **Common swear words** that someone like John would use are: Damn, Jesus, bloody (or bloody hell), bugger, sod, shit or fuck. We might say ‘bollocks’ as in “that’s a load of bollocks” (i.e. that’s rubbish). We might tell someone to “sod off”, “bugger off” or “piss off”.

 **Terms of insult** include: git, sod, prick, bugger (yes, it can be a description as well as a general swear word, as in “that bugger”), moron, prat, or pillock (generally meaning idiot). John’s heartfelt “you cock” in The Empty Hearse is probably a slightly politer way of saying “you bastard”. Even more offensive terms would be dickhead or fuckwit. There are a fair number of misogynistic ways of insulting women: bitch, cow, and the really nasty ‘cunt’.

By the way, I don't think John ever says 'fuck' in the series, but that's probably more so they can get the programme past the BBC's 'watershed' regulations rather than because John himself is too gentlemanly to use that word. It would be rife in the army and even fairly well-spoken Brits will pepper their conversation with it. Martin and Benedict themselves frequently use 'fuck' in interviews (though it may be edited out depending on the publication/TV programme).

John would not be considered to be particularly rude in his use of such words. A lot of British 'blokes' (and women too) use them as a matter of course – we're used to it and most Brits are not all that fussy about swear words (the exceptions would be the older generation and very religious people). He would, however, probably only use them in extreme circumstances, either because he's scared, startled or has lost his temper. He certainly wouldn't swear at work and he might avoid using such language in front of Mrs Hudson.

Sherlock's language might be more refined. This won't be because he went to public school (Benedict did, and that doesn't stop him!); it is more likely to be due to his family background. He won't have been exposed to the kind of language that John will have heard in the army – or at least not to the degree that it becomes a habit. He might consider himself to be above the use of such language, as would Mycroft. I don't think he would use the word 'fuck' in relationship to sex, e.g. he's unlikely to say something like "the victims were clearly fucking"; more likely "they were clearly having sex". He is probably scornful of John's use of such language, considering it to be unimaginative or limited.

 **Terms of affection** \- slightly depend on the context.

A man to another man (non-sexual) – might say 'mate' or 'pal', as in "You alright, mate?" John and Greg might say 'mate'; Sherlock probably avoids use of such terms. 'Buddy' or 'bud' is not likely to be used - they're a bit American.

A woman to another woman – younger women who are very friendly might say 'hon', 'sweetie' etc. An older woman, like Mrs Hudson, will often describe someone else (male or female) as 'love' (not 'luv' – see above) or 'dear', as in "Sherlock, dear…" or "John, love…".

In a romantic relationship, common British terms of affection are: 'darling' or 'love'. Possibly also 'sweetheart', although that's a bit old-fashioned. Other terms might be slightly playful, e.g. 'sexy', 'gorgeous', 'handsome' etc. 'Dear' or 'dearest' would be used by a much older person, generally – John is unlikely to use 'dear'. 'Honey' or 'hon' would probably only be used by a young woman. British people don't (usually) say: 'angel', 'baby' or 'babe', 'sweetie' or anything else really twee – we're too embarrassed to be very sentimental in our terms of affection. And even in a long-established relationship, e.g. John with Mary, he's quite likely to just use her name or the words 'love' or 'darling'.

**Clarifications on other words:**

**Store - supermarket**. The 'store' or 'corner shop' doesn't really exist to the same extent these days - see the section on supermarkets in chapter 3. There are no shopping 'malls' – they're known as shopping centres. Also, if John was announcing his intentions, he'd probably say, "I'm just off to Tesco's" as opposed to "I'm just off to the store".

 **Cellphone - usually known as mobile phone or just mobile**. Or might be described as a smartphone, or iphone or Blackberry, as appropriate.

 **Cab** – this one's not that big a deal, actually, but they are sometimes known as taxis outside of London. In most of the UK, we have yellow taxi cabs, known as taxis, whereas in London they also have the more expensive black cabs that Sherlock and John travel around in, and they are probably referred to as 'cabs'. The black cab drivers are required to pass exams on ‘The Knowledge’, as in where every road in London can be found and the best routes to get there!

 **Subway/metro – more commonly known as the tube or the Underground** , as in "get the tube" or "use the Underground".

**Trash / trash can – known as rubbish / rubbish bin**

**Queue** – we stand in a queue when we’re waiting for something, not in a line. I always remember Martin Freeman's line in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where Arthur Dent says "I'm British, we know how to queue", although, to be fair, they're not quite the feature of British life that they used to be. It’s considered the height of rudeness to jump a queue, and generally if someone does, we assume they’re foreigners! Having said that, London tends to be very different to the rest of Britain in that respect, and Londoners will happily barge their way onto public transport or into a taxi on the grounds that if they don’t, they’ll never get anywhere…so be warned if you’re travelling in London.

 **The date** \- in Britain, the date is represented as Day/Month/Year, i.e. 5th November 2013 would be written as 05/11/13 and not 11/05/13 as in the States. I’m told it’s also represented in some places, including the military, as Year/Month/Day, e.g. 2013/11/05 and in fact I work for an American company and that’s how I have to write my dates, but it’s an information company and I think that’s just computer language.


	10. Distances in Britain and Travel/Transport

I've been asked to provide some information on the distances between London and other points in Britain and how long it takes to travel between them. I thought I'd add some more information about transport options too. It's in danger of turning into a travelogue, but hopefully will be useful!

**1\. Britain is quite small…**

One book I can recommend is **Bill Bryson's travel book on Britain "Notes from a Small Island"** – I can recommend it anyway, as it does provide a lot of useful information on us Brits and our idiosyncrasies from the point of view of an American (and I have to say, he's pretty accurate), but there's a section at the beginning of Chapter 1 where he provides an amusing anecdote on the British misconception that our island is 'big' and it therefore takes a long time to cross it.

When he (theoretically) mentions to friends that he wishes to drive from Surrey (a county just south of London) to Cornwall in the far south-west of England, their warnings that it'll take a long time are so convincing that he gets his complaining family out of bed in the early hours and consequently arrives in Cornwall by breakfast time. He describes the distance across the bottom of England as equivalent to the distance that "most Americans will happily go to get a taco". An exaggeration, obviously, but it gets the main point across: Britain is actually not that big in comparison with the States and mainland Europe.

As an example, if I set out early enough, I could drive from my home town of Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, all the way up to John O'Groats, on the northern tip of Scotland, in a single (long) day. It wouldn't be much fun (or recommended, since I'd probably have to drive at the speed limit all the time and not take any breaks), but I _could_ drive the length of mainland Britain in fourteen hours.

Here are some more examples of driving distances:

Central London to Edinburgh in Scotland – 7 and a half hours

Central London to Manchester in the north of England – 4 hours

Central London – Bristol in the west of England/Cardiff just over the border in Wales – between 2 and a half and 3 hours.

OK, so you get the idea. Britain is not that big, so there's not that much distance to travel. And because our climate is generally moderate, we don't often get disruption to travel (unless it's snowing).

2\. … **however, it still takes a while to travel around it!**

What we _do_ have a lot of is _traffic_ …which means that a 100 mile journey that ought to take no more than an hour and a half can often (and usually will) take longer. This has a lot to do with the fact that many of our roads were built for lighter traffic loads. It depends on where you are to some extent. There are travel blackspots around the most highly populated areas, and also, away from the motorways, some of the major roads can be surprisingly small and therefore prone to delays. Road works are a major and perennial problem and a traffic accident can potentially close a route for several hours.

Between major urban areas, we have motorways (the equivalent of freeways in the USA), which usually have 3 lanes (sometimes 4 or 2 in certain sections). These are known by the letter M and numbers, e.g. M1, M2 etc. Ones to be aware of around London are: the M1 which takes you north to the cities of the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland; the M4 which takes you west through rural Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire (where Benedict hails from!) towards Bristol and south Wales; and the M3, which brings you south west out of London towards the south coast (Martin's home county of Hampshire and my neighbouring home county of Dorset!) and the south west of England. Another key motorway is the M25, which circles outer London. If you're travelling in or out of London, you are likely to find yourself on it even if only briefly. The major London airports of Heathrow and Gatwick are just off it. There's also a major 'inner' road that (more or less) circles London, known as either the North Circular or the South Circular – just in case you ever hear that mentioned.

The motorways take in some rural areas, particularly in the Midlands and the North of England and are easily the fastest way to travel. In other rural areas, due to protected sections or private farmland, there may not be motorways, e.g. here in Dorset, we don't have a single motorway. Instead, there are 2-lane 'A' roads, also known as dual carriageways. Smaller still are 'B' roads, which are often single lane (i.e. only 1 lane each way). Again, these are known by letters and numbers, e.g. A35 or B2118. If you're basing a story in a very rural area (colloquially "out in the sticks"), this needs to be taken into account. Particularly in Wales, Scotland and the South West of England, our heroes are likely to be travelling more slowly (especially if you get behind a farm vehicle, which can be pretty annoying, I can tell you!).

Two excellent sources if you want to check the mileage and likely travel time between two places in the UK are the **websites of the AA (Automobile Association) and the RAC** – just Google the names to get the sites. They have travel calculators that provide detailed journey details, including areas that are likely to be affected by traffic, and they will take the potential delays into account.

Particular travel blackspots include all approaches to London and to some of the other big cities, e.g. Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and certain routes to popular tourist destinations. For example, you're likely to run into delays if you're driving down to Dorset, Devon or Cornwall in August; equally there can be delays from the Midlands cities into northern Wales, and to coastal areas surrounding London – basically anywhere that leads to a beach. And popular tourist spots can also mean lots of touring coaches on rural roads slowing everyone down, e.g. in the Lake District and the Cotswolds.

**3\. Distances within London**

I am sometimes asked how long it might take Sherlock to get between two points in London. It can be _very_ difficult to judge. As a general guide, if travelling by Tube (the fastest method if there are no delays due to network problems) it takes roughly between 45 minutes and an hour and 15 minutes to get from a central London location, e.g. Oxford Street, to the outer reaches of the London Underground system. Cross-London travel by Tube, e.g. from Baker Street Station to Bank Station (in the City) would probably take about 20 minutes.

By taxi is a different scenario entirely, due to the heavy London traffic, and may be the reason why Sherlock so sensibly travels by black cab rather than an ordinary minicab – the black cab drivers are famous for having 'The Knowledge'. You can give them any London address and they will know exactly where the road is and the quickest way of getting there, making use of the back streets and short cuts. Those scenes where Sherlock is visualising a map to work out the best route are rather like a black cab driver's mind-set. Baker Street is not all that far from Bart's, and I would expect a black cab to deliver Sherlock within half an hour, possibly even only 15 minutes depending on the time of day. It's a similar distance to New Scotland Yard from Baker Street.

Regarding airports, the biggest and busiest is Heathrow in west London, and it'll take probably about an hour to travel from Baker Street to Heathrow (quickest by the Heathrow Express from Paddington station, which would be the most sensible route from Baker Street; alternatively, just over an hour by Tube, probably longer by road). You also need to take into account that nowadays airlines require passengers to arrive at least 2, and more usually 3, hours before the flight departs, largely due to the length of time it takes to get through security these days. So if, for example, Sherlock is flying somewhere on a scheduled flight at, say 8PM, he would probably need to leave Baker Street by 3.30PM at the very latest. This, of course, doesn't apply at all if he's departing in Mycroft's private jet!

**4\. Getting Around – Travel and Transport Options**

**By car**

Not surprisingly, this is the most popular way to travel in Britain, and most families will have one or two cars. Campervans (motorhomes) and caravans (towed behind cars) are also popular in season in the touristy areas.

You can start driving at the age of 17; you apply for your licence by taking a theory test and then a practical driving test. You cannot drive alone until you've passed the practical test. Learner drivers are expected to display a red L on a white background somewhere on their car. Younger people, e.g. students, may not necessarily have a car even if they can drive, as public transport is usually adequate and much cheaper.

Some Londoners may not own a car, particularly those living in central London (unless you have children to ferry around). It's just not worth it for a number of reasons:

1\. There's a congestion charge that you have to pay if you drive in central London.

2\. Parking is absolutely dreadful. If you own a property with off-road parking in Central London, you are doing very well for yourself (the posher properties often have underground parking). In the suburbs of London, properties often come with parking on the road, and you need to display a resident's permit, otherwise the car will be towed or clamped. I don't know if that's available in Baker Street, but I would doubt it, as it's a fairly major thoroughfare. However, John and Mary appear to live in a less central location with parking.

3\. The traffic moves very slowly and it can be a hair-raising experience driving during rush hour (or any hour in central London).

For those reasons, most Londoners will use public transport, about which more below. If they want to travel outside the capital, they might hire a car. Regarding the Hound of the Baskervilles, I can't decide whether Sherlock drove the car from London or whether they travelled down to Exeter by train and picked up the hire car there – depends on whether or not you visualise him being happy to use public transport, I guess!  Edited: thanks to maryagrawatson for clarifying that they took a taxi to Paddington Station - which means they definitely did take the train to Exeter or Plymouth and picked up a hire car from there.

 **Driving:** We drive on the left! And there are lovely inventions called roundabouts, which apparently cause consternation to newly-arrived Americans (or did, I don't know whether that's true anymore), since it's hard to work out when and where you can enter and exit the traffic system.

There are a few toll roads around the system but not many and they can usually be avoided. The main one I'm aware of is the Dartford Tunnel/Bridge, which is on the east part of the M25, the motorway that circles outer London. You can avoid it, but only by travelling into London to pick up the South Circular and the Blackwall Tunnel (responsible for many of my grey hairs). Can I just say now, for anyone contemplating a visit – if you really don't _have_ to drive in Central London, just don't!

 **Driving etiquette/rules:** driving behaviour is not too bad in Britain, although you do get the idiots who try to overtake on single lane carriageways. City drivers and particularly Londoners have a reputation for aggressive driving, although frankly I call it survival instinct. You have to learn to move quickly and take your chances, just to keep out of trouble. In more rural areas, the pace can be slower, although there'll be boy/girl racers and morons in 4-wheel drives pretty much everywhere.

By the way, on our motorways, one pet hate is 'cruising' (not quite what it sounds like!), where someone travels too slowly in their lane. The left hand lane (nearest the side of the motorway) is for slow driving. The right hand lane (nearest the central reservation) is for overtaking only. If someone is driving too slowly in the fast lane, it's pretty dangerous, as an impatient driver may try to 'undertake', i.e. pass them in the middle lane (to their left). I only mention this, as I seem to recall from driving in the States that you can travel at cruising speed in any lane on the freeway (it's been 25 years since I did, so that might not be right!). Speed limits on motorways are 70 miles an hour, but people frequently travel at speeds of up to 100 miles an hour in the fast lane. On a motorway, you're supposed to maintain a safe speed and a safe distance from other cars; i.e. keep going and if you need to stop suddenly, pull over to the layby.

In very rural areas, you may be driving on narrow roads, where only one car can proceed. In these situations, you have to keep an eye out for the 'passing places', as you may be required to back up into one if you meet someone coming the other way. Brits are generally polite and accommodating in these situations – we're used to driving on roads that tend to be narrower than those in other countries. But again, you always get the one git who forces you to back right up… Those are the types of conditions that Sherlock would have been driving in during the Hound of the Baskervilles – driving in Dartmoor can be a bit hairy with the numerous single lane sections, the hilly roads and the over-confident local drivers.

There are speed cameras and police patrol cars on the motorway in particular, who can pull you over for speeding. You don't generally have to go to a police station, as long as you have your licence on you and it is a simple speeding fine – the police can issue penalty fines and points on your licence on the spot. They will only require you to accompany them if they suspect you of committing a crime, including driving unlicensed. They may also pull you over if they've checked you on their on-board computer and discovered that you don't have car insurance – in that situation, they can make you ring up your insurer and get insurance sorted out on the spot. Police officers in Britain are generally courteous and helpful. They don't usually carry firearms with them. If you're followed by a police car with flashing lights, you are obliged to pull over as soon as you feel it's safe to do so. However, if you're a woman travelling alone at night, the police advise you not to stop even if you're being flashed at, but to keep proceeding until you are somewhere safe, e.g. a well-populated garage - or even a police station.

**Public Transport**

This is where it could get contentious! In general, public transport in Britain is pretty comprehensive and, in my opinion, quite good. However, I'm not a commuter, and they often tell a different tale – of overcrowded trains, expensive tickets, being held up by problems on the line, and the like. So…let's just say that if you _have_ to commute by public transport it can be hell, whereas if you are travelling as a tourist outside of rush hour times, it can be surprisingly pleasant.

I'm going to divide this into urban (London) public transport and UK-wide public transport.

**London Public Transport**

First of all, an excellent source of info on London transport is the **Transport for London** website. There, you'll find comprehensive information on the Tube (Underground), trains (Overground), buses and riverboat services, including details of individual Tube lines/frequency of transport, costs etc.

Londoners tend to use Oyster cards, which can be charged up with enough money for multiple journeys. These cards can be topped up at train or tube stations or in shops, notably newsagents.

**Taxis**

Despite what Sherlock and John would like us to think, the average Londoner doesn't travel around in taxis all the time. They are mainly used by richer or less mobile people or tourists. You'll find two classes of taxi – the more expensive and iconic black cab and the minicab, with different prices. I won't go into this much, as it's touched on in a previous chapter. It's not recommended that you jump into a minicab in case it's not a licensed one – women have been attacked in these situations. Instead, you need to phone and request one from a taxicab firm, and there are usually phone numbers displayed at stations etc. However, if you are in central London, it's quite safe to flag down an official black cab, Sherlock-style!

**London Underground (the Tube)**

This is the most popular form of transport in the capital by far, and it's usually known colloquially as the Tube. Again, I'm not going to go into much detail here, as it's broadly similar to other urban metro systems around the world. It's not the prettiest system in the world – some of the platforms and carriages are fairly shabby – and Londoners very often complain about over-crowding, but it seems to function pretty well. At very busy times, some of the more central stations may close for safety reasons. I used to work near Oxford Circus station and often found it was closed when I came out of work, because it's right on the corner of the two busiest shopping streets, Oxford Street and Regent's Street.

I should mention etiquette on the Tube. Much to the average Brit's horror, you sit facing other people, which might mean being forced to look at or even communicate with them. In general…don't do it! I'm afraid that if you try to strike up a conversation with the stranger opposite, he/she will probably think you are crazy or a stalker. The only time this rule can be broken is if there's some kind of problem. For example, back in the day, I was stuck in a carriage where the lights had gone out (we had a lot of IRA-related terrorist scares back then), and after about five minutes, people actually began to talk and joke with each other…chiefly because we couldn't see each other!

There's an old joke often told about the couple having sex in a corner of a Tube carriage while everyone studiously ignores them. After they've finished, they light a post-coital cigarette… at which point, someone points to the No Smoking sign. That's about typical of a Tube carriage! If you're American, you might get away with speaking to a stranger, because you have a certain reputation in the UK for being 'over-friendly'. It's unusual for a Brit to be overtly rude to a friendly overture, so you'll probably get a response, but it might be a little stiff and embarrassed.

**Overground (Trains)**

There are some overground lines, usually suburban ones travelling into London from the surrounding commuter areas of Surrey, Sussex and Kent to the south, Essex to the north east, Cambridgeshire to the north and Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to the west. These are popular areas for families to settle in, involving a commute in of up to 1-2 hours. Some people even commute from the south coast, notably Brighton, which is known for having a fairly large number of residents working in the media, e.g. journalists, TV script writers and so on. Consequently, Brighton has a reputation for being fairly left-wing politically, which is not all that typical of the affluent retirement communities strung out along the south coast.

There are also a few old overground lines around London itself, notably one that loops around north London before ending at Kew Gardens. I used to live in north east London and would get that line over to Hampstead Heath for Sunday afternoon strolls. Had I but known it at the time, I might have bumped into Benedict! What a missed opportunity…

**Buses (urban)**

The red London buses are pretty iconic, and a great way to travel around the capital if you want a change from the Tube and you don't mind making slower progress. There are any number of open-top tourist buses with running commentary, but they are expensive and quite honestly it's better to hop on an ordinary bus unless you're particularly enamoured of those recorded narratives.

**Boats / Other forms of transport**

There are some river ferries, mostly running from the South Bank near Waterloo and Embankment stations east to the City (when the big banks and companies are based) and then further on towards the large park of Greenwich in south east London. They are also aimed at commuters, but it's a more expensive way to travel and services are less frequent than for trains/buses, so they tend to be used by tourists mainly.

There's also a cable car that crosses the river in south east London – again, rather touristy. It was set up to convey people between two major venues during the 2012 Olympics.

**UK-Wide Public Transport**

**Trains**

We used to have a national network called British Rail, which was the butt of numerous jokes for its perceived inefficiency, inedible food and indifferent customer service. However, services were eventually sold off, so different sections of the rail network are served by different companies – with varying degrees of efficiency and customer service. Some companies also offer long-distance cross-country trains, e.g. Virgin Trains (part of Richard Branson's Virgin empire).

Costs can be massively variable! Peak travel (during commuting times) can be astronomically expensive, but the companies also do saver deals and if you can book ahead and can take the risk of tying yourself to a particular time and date, you can save a lot. As an example, I frequently travel from Bournemouth to Cambridge, via London, and can usually get a return ticket for around £100 for one person. However, I recently got a deal on a family day return ticket from Bournemouth to London - £45 for three people, which is _really_ good value.

Most train services cease overnight, although there are a couple of more expensive overnight 'sleeper' services (with bunks in private or shared compartments), notably London Kings Cross to Edinburgh in Scotland, and London Paddington down to Newquay in Cornwall. The London to Edinburgh route is popular with Londoners who have to travel north on business, and certainly might be an option for Sherlock/John if they had to travel to Scotland for a case.

There are a few 'heritage' lines on which old steam/diesel trains are run, either by train companies or by private enthusiasts as tourist attractions. If you've seen the Harry Potter films, you'll be familiar with the 'Hogwarts Express' steam train puffing over the viaduct – actually part of the West Highland Line in the Scottish Highlands, on which steam trains run in the summer months.

The Eurostar trains to France and other parts of continental Europe depart from London St. Pancras. They are very popular, both with business commuters travelling to Paris and beyond and with tourists, notably families travelling to the Euro Disney theme park and skiers travelling to the Alps resorts. You have to book quite far in advance, particularly during peak holiday periods.

**Coaches (long-distance/between towns)**

Coaches are slightly cheaper than trains. In addition to the scheduled services that run frequently between cities/towns and also to the airports, coach companies provide private travel, e.g. for school groups. Coach travel is perceived to be for those who are either on a low income or retired, so it's unlikely Sherlock/John would use one.

**Flights**

As Britain is not that large, we don't tend to fly within the UK much – the exception being flights between 'mainland' Britain and Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland. There are also regular services between London/other southern English cities and the Scottish cities, e.g. Southampton to Glasgow. Apart from flights across the Irish Sea, these are mainly used by business people, and it's possible Sherlock/John might use them for the sake of speed. Having said that, by the time you've arrived at least two hours before the flight, had to endure the joys of check-in and security etc., you might just as well have gone by train from London!

**Ferries**

The other way of getting to Ireland from England/Wales/Scotland is a car ferry across the Irish Sea. There are also ferries to various islands off the coast, notably the Scottish Isles, the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, and the Isle of Wight on the Hampshire coast. On a smaller scale, there are services that ferry cars across coastal estuaries.

**Buses**

There are good local bus services in towns and cities. The rural bus networks are a different matter. If Sherlock/John had broken down on Dartmoor and hadn't been able to call a taxi, they might have had to wait a long time, possibly up to 1-2 hours, for a bus to come along. As with the trains, there are different companies (and different colour buses) in each area of the UK.

It should be noted that, unlike London, where buses are regularly used by rich commuters as well as tourists, buses in other locations are more likely to be used only by people who don't have a car, e.g. students, school children, older people, and people with disabilities.

Well, that's it! I hope this is of some help to anyone writing a story involving travel within or outside of London. Do get in touch if you have any specific questions.


	11. Public Holidays and Traditions

In the UK, we have a number of public holidays, otherwise known as bank holidays. The descriptions are interchangeable but basically a public holiday is decreed by Royal proclamation and often goes back many centuries, while a bank holiday relates to employment laws requiring the banks to close on specific dates (and most other companies will do the same). Some are common to all of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), while others are celebrated in specific countries only – these are usually Saints' days.

By the way, to avoid confusion, I should explain exactly _why_ we have different names for the country as a whole!

**The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland** , usually known as either the United Kingdom or the UK, is a sovereign state that consists of the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the northern part of Ireland (the southern part of Ireland being the Republic of Ireland, a separate nation). A number of smaller islands are also included in the UK, although not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm), which are self-governing Crown dependencies (don't even ask how that works…!).

So, the most _accurate_ way of describing us as a country is the UK or United Kingdom. Although we're often also called Great Britain, this excludes Northern Ireland. However, it's true that as a people, we're most often known as British, and I know a family living in Northern Ireland who would describe themselves as 'British'. Please don't call the country England or the people English if you're referring to the _entire_ nation, as that's not fair on the Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish! But do feel free to do so if you're only referring to those who live in the _England_ part of the nation!

I should point out that people living in specific regions often identify as a region first and as British second. In particular, a lot of Scottish people are very keen to be known as Scottish first and British second. Among many Scottish and Welsh people, there's no great love for the English, who are seen as dominating, London-centric and dismissive of the regions. This quite often comes out in sporting events, e.g. good luck if you're an England supporter at a Rugby Six Nations match being held in Scotland or Wales! _Generally_ , it's good natured ribbing…! Also, there was a recent referendum held in Scotland to decide whether or not that region should break away from the UK. The 'Yes' campaign lost on that occasion, but there may be other referendums in the future, and there are plans to devolve more government powers to the four regions.

OK, back to public holidays and traditions. I'll deal with public holidays first and then traditions.

 

**Public (or Bank) Holidays**

These are days on which employees are not required to work (though in reality, major services such as supermarkets will often stay open, with workers paid at higher holiday rates if they agree to work). If the days with fixed dates happen to fall on a Saturday or Sunday then usually the following Monday becomes the 'bank holiday'.

**1** **st** **January – New Years' Day**. Although it's a public holiday, shops are usually open and advertising New Year sales. All other businesses close (apart from essential public services such as health care).

**17** **th** **March – St Patrick's Day** (the Patron Saint of Ireland). This is a public holiday in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and also in other parts of the world where there is a significant Irish community. It's not a public holiday in other countries of the UK, but there will be celebrations and religious services held.

**Somewhere around March/April** – Good Friday and Easter Monday. The dates vary, depending on when Easter takes place. Both are national public holidays, although supermarkets will often be open.

**First Monday in May** – May Day, a national public holiday. It's a spring holiday on which some traditions are still enacted in rural parts of the UK, e.g. maypole dancing, Morris dancing and the crowning of a local girl as the May Queen.

**Last Monday in May** – Spring Bank Holiday, a statutory national bank holiday.

**12** **th** **July – Battle of the Boyne (Orangeman's Day)** – Northern Ireland only, celebrating the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

**Last Monday in August** – a statutory national bank holiday.  This used to be the first Monday in August and I believe it still is in Scotland.

**30** **th** **November – St. Andrew's Day** (Patron Saint of Scotland). A bank holiday in Scotland only. If it takes place on a weekend, the following Monday becomes the bank holiday. However, unlike the other bank holidays, banks and other employers are not obliged to give their workers the day off if they choose to keep open.

**25** **th** **December** **– Christmas Day** – and pretty much the only day on which all shops, including supermarkets, are likely to be closed. However, in the big cities, shops in the more 'international' communities that don't observe Christmas may open as usual.

**26** **th** **December – Boxing Day** , a statutory bank holiday, although the shops will reopen.

If the above two days fall on a Saturday and Sunday, then 27th and 28th December will be bank holidays.

There are Saints' Days for each of the regions, but in the case of Wales (St. David's Day on 1st March) and England (St. George's Day on 23rd April), they are not public holidays. There have been petitions in both countries for public holidays to be created, so this situation may change.

 

**UK Traditions relating to dates**

The following relate to dates that are significant without being statutory public holidays.

**Around March – Mothering Sunday.**

This is held on the 4th Sunday of the Christian period of Lent, so the date varies depending on when Lent and Easter fall each year. Although 'Mothering' referred to the 'Mother church' and it was a day traditionally reserved for servants to return to their home churches (and visit their mothers too, no doubt), it has come to be known as Mother's Day in the UK. It should not be confused with Mother's Day celebrated on different dates in other countries, but many of the traditions are the same – it's the day on which you generally make a fuss of your mother, buying cards and flowers and taking her out for lunch.

**June – Father's Day**

The equivalent of Mothering Sunday for fathers, always held on the 3rd Sunday in June in the UK. We copied this from the USA, so it's not particularly traditional.

**September – Harvest Festival**

Used to be more important, especially in rural communities, but now it tends to be celebrated only in churches and schools. It usually relates to the 'gathering in' of the harvest and is celebrated with displays of fruit and vegetables and the holding of Harvest suppers.

**31** **st** **October – Hallowe'en or All Hallows Eve**

All Hallows Eve is the eve of the Christian festival of All Hallows Day, and is seen as a 'Christianized' version of an ancient pagan festival, in which the focus is on using humour and fun to combat evil spirits. It's a controversial date, with many evangelical churches holding 'Light' parties to counter the traditional Hallowe'en parties. Unlike Guy Fawkes Night (see below), people tend to focus their activities on this date specifically, whichever day of the week it falls on.

In recent years, the event has become more Americanized – it's now quite common for children to dress up as ghosts, witches, monsters etc. and go out Trick-or-Treating to get sweets from the neighbours. There are Hallowe'en dressing up parties and people carve pumpkins into lanterns. It's very similar to celebrations in other parts of the Western world. It quite often falls within a school holiday, so public places will hold Hallowe'en related events for children to go to – crafts, ghost story-telling etc.

**5** **th** **November – Guy Fawkes Night** **(also known as Bonfire Night, Firework Night or Guy Fawkes Day)**

This tradition relates to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a group of Catholic noblemen attempted to blow up the House of Lords, assassinating the Protestant King James I of England in the process. The plot was uncovered, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes became the focus of anti-Catholic hate - he wasn't the leader of the group, but he was the one discovered guarding the gunpowder. The news that King James had survived an assassination attempt was celebrated with bonfires around the city, and the tradition continues to this day – a 'guy' (effigy) is placed on a bonfire before setting it alight and fireworks are let off as the fire burns. There are official bonfires, sometimes very big events with thousands of people, or families will have their own fireworks party. Although 5th November is always the official day, people will often hold bonfires on the nearest Saturday to the date, simply to make it easier to organise big events. That's probably why, in The Empty Hearse, we see that John was placed in the bonfire at least one night _before_ the bomb was set to go off on 5th November.

Another tradition was that kids would get together to create their own 'guy' or effigy and display it on the streets for days beforehand to get a little money, calling out "Penny for the guy" to passers-by. Some still do, although they rarely look like much more than a pile of rags!

There's a little scrap of a poem that I remember relating to the date:

"Remember, Remember the 5th of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot"

However, many of the old traditions relating to the date have disappeared and it's largely an excuse for a big fireworks party. Sometimes people put the masks of specific hate figures on their 'guy', e.g. unpopular politicians.

 

**Christmas traditions**

I could go on and on with this one! And I'm sure there will be disagreement, as 'traditions' vary massively according to taste.

The focus usually begins…well, as far as some shops are concerned, in September, when Christmas products start to go on display! But in terms of general traditions, it _generally_ starts with the first of the four Advent Sundays, at the beginning of December (or end of November).

I won't go into religious traditions. In terms of food, I mention that to some degree in another chapter, but just to clarify: a traditional Christmas meal will be roast turkey accompanied by vegetables (including the dreaded Brussels sprouts that no one likes!), roast potatoes, pigs-in-blankets (small sausages wrapped in bacon slices) and stuffing for the bird. People will often substitute with another meat, or possibly have more than one meat at the meal, or even fish or a vegetarian alternative according to preference. This will be followed by Christmas pudding, a dense fruit suet pudding which may be doused in brandy and set alight before being served. Other traditions are mince pies (filled with spiced dried fruit) and the Christmas cake, a very rich fruit cake covered in icing.

Christmas trees and decorations often go up in the early weeks in December. Trees will be either real or artificial according to preference. Tradition states that they shouldn't go up until 24th December and should come down on Twelfth Night (6th January); any earlier or later is considered bad luck. However, many trees go up at the start of Advent. Presents might be placed under the tree to be opened on Christmas Day. If there are children in the house, they often also get a stocking on Christmas morning on the end of their beds (more usually a pillow case!). These will be hung up on Christmas Eve and filled with small toys and sweets. Traditionally, they contained such 'luxuries' as oranges or packs of dates – my mum remembers getting those in her stocking in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Britain was still experiencing rationing and certain types of food were hard to obtain. Even now, I still associate the smell of oranges and satsumas with Christmas!

In addition, many families have Advent calendars with doors to open for each day of December up to the 25th.  Traditionally these contained bible texts or little pictures associated with the Nativity, but they are now more likely to contain chocolates or little toys.

Carol singing (Wassailing) is still fairly popular in the UK, although it's less likely that people will go out in groups to sing from house to house. More usually, groups will sing in public spaces, e.g. shopping centres where they will collect money for charity, or they will sing in hospitals or at care homes for older people.

Carols from Kings – I can't leave this out! For many people, this represents the _real_ start of Christmas. It's when the BBC broadcasts the traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College in Cambridge, which is renowned for its choir. It is broadcast on the TV and radio in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and has been broadcast on this date every year since 1928 (except for 1930 for some reason). The Lessons (readings) are always the same. The carols can vary but the service always starts with 'Once in Royal David's City', with the first verse sung unaccompanied by a boy soprano. And it always ends with 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. Trust me, whether you're religious or not, when you hear those first few notes of the service, your hair stands on end. Try YouTubing 'Carols from Kings' to see what I mean!

Churches will usually hold a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve to welcome in the following day.

Christmas Day itself could consist of pretty much anything. The religious go to Church for a morning service, which will traditionally end with 'O Come All Ye Faithful', including its final verse that can only be sung on that date. Christmas lunch usually stretches on for hours and will often be an excuse for the extended family to get together. Others like to go for a long Christmas Day walk with the family. There's the usual Christmas Day TV on offer, with Christmas editions of popular soaps and comedies and big movies. The Royal Christmas Message (also known as the Queen's Speech) has been broadcast on radio since 1932, with just a few exceptions, and on TV since the 1950s, and more traditional people will usually try to catch that (nowadays TV broadcasts vary between the BBC and other channels). I still remember as a child being made to sit quietly during the Queen's speech, while my parents and grandparents sat with glasses of sherry, with which they would toast the Queen afterwards! I always imagine Mrs. Hudson listening to it, with Sherlock making disparaging comments in the background! I'll bet Mr. and Mrs. Holmes will listen too – and no doubt Mycroft wrote it!

Boxing Day, the public holiday on 26th December, is usually a quiet affair, with most people trying to recover. Traditionally, it was the day on which servants would receive Christmas gifts from their employers (think Downton Abbey). Although, it's a public holiday, various sporting events will take place and it's also the official start of the sales, with many shops opening for bargain hunters (although in more recent years, the sales will start even before Christmas).

 

**School Holidays / Statutory Holiday for Workers**

Just in case it's of use…the holiday dates (and length) will vary slightly between regions, but in general, school children get 13 weeks' holiday a year.

The school term in England and Wales starts at the beginning of September and there are three terms – autumn (or Christmas) term, spring (or Easter) term, and summer term. These are broken up with 3 major holidays – a two-week Christmas holiday (covering Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day), a two-week Easter holiday and a six-(or seven-) week summer holiday, taking place during half of July and the whole of August. In addition to these, each term has a one-week holiday in the middle, called Half Term.

In Scotland, the summer holiday is significantly earlier, with the new school year starting in August. In Northern Ireland, the summer holiday is longer, at least two months, with fewer holidays during the rest of the year.

School holidays can cause contention between schools and families – holiday costs rise significantly during the school holiday periods, but any parent who takes their child out for a holiday during term times can face a fine, and even a prison sentence if they persistently keep their child out.

Workers in the UK are entitled by law to a minimum of 28 days' holiday (or 4 full weeks), though this can include public holidays. In reality, many workers get more than this and in some organisations will give employees extra days as a reward for long-term service. The average is around 4-5 weeks plus public holidays.

**Author's Note:**

> Please do feel free to pick this apart, make suggestions, request additions etc.


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